The New Recruits
by Pyromanic Kittie
Summary: Quick story about if Alma and Yu survived learning about their upbringing. Grabbing new recruits before making their way to Japan for the Ark. (OCs, formerly published on a shared account that is no longer active. please enjoy!)
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

 **Hello all,**

 **This is an old story that I've glossed over and cleaned up as best as I could. It was once on my shared account with the friend that I wrote it with but due to unfortunate circumstances we are no longer on speaking terms. I thought it best to deactivate that account by basically removing everything and move the stories onto my account so people could enjoy them.**

 **~Pyro**

 **Saya and Emiko are owned by Pryo and Gene. All other characters are owned by Katsura Hoshino (The background story of Waizurii is fiction made up by me)**

 **Prologue**

Since before the Great Flood in the Biblical times there has been a war between the two descendants of Man. In order to try and eliminate the danger to the descendants of Man one side created a golden cube with a message: _Our descendants; We have battled the darkness, and they are a dying breed. There will be calamity in the future, so we leave behind this message here in order to help you._ The Great Flood wiped the earth clean and only the descendants of Noah survived. All those who knew about the golden cube had been wiped from the earth and the cube shattered into 109 pieces, scattering to the far edges of the world.

For a time, the world grew quiet, all things lived harmoniously, or so everyone thought. Then one day the Roman Catholic Church uncovered a piece of the golden cube. With this piece, what was now known as Innocence, the Church founded an order of Exorcists to combat the new threat to the human race: the Akuma. This order of Exorcists, the Black Order, began to search for more pieces of the Innocence and people who were deemed Compatible to use the Innocence as a weapon against the threat to humanity.

During their search, they are confronted with the mastermind behind the Akuma; he is only known as the Millennium Earl. The Millennium Earl and his Family of 12 people who claim to be the true descendants of Noah have taken it upon themselves to rid the world of the "false God" and return it to it's true way. The Noah Descendants are humans who have inherited the genes of Noah who is believed to be Mankind's oldest Apostle. With these genes, the Descendants gain the "memories" of Noah, each gaining an emotion and the superhuman abilities needed to utterly control the Akuma.

Now a Holy War has begun again between the Millennium Earl with his Noah and the weapons called Akuma and the Black Order with their Exorcists and their weapons called Innocence. In which the outcome could affect the World as a whole.

Though there are a hundred and nine pieces of Innocence there are not a hundred and nine Exorcists. An Innocence must choose its compatible user, so for the time being the Exorcists are sent out on a mission to find and retrieve all the pieces of the Innocence to store and keep them safe. The Earl and the Noah are also on the same hunt, but to destroy and not to possess. It is a race against the clock to see who will find the one piece of Innocence deemed The Heart. This one-piece controls all the other 108 pieces of Innocence; if it were destroyed all the Innocence would be destroyed at the same time.

In a last-ditch effort to keep what little Exorcists the Black Order has they began a project called the Second Exorcist Project, a project that would place the brain of a fallen exorcist into an artificially created body. In the process the original person's memories are completely erased to prevent the new "person" from falling into complete madness. These new artificial exorcists have been given the ability to regenerate after massive trauma done to their body, even death. This ability is used to keep the new exorcist from dying during the process of trying to resynchronize the original's Innocence to the new host. Only two were deemed successful before the project was scrapped after a massive backlash.

Now these two Second Exorcists lead the Black Order's exorcists in the fight against the Millennium Earl and his Akuma. They are the best of the best, they are true fighters for the Church, but that is not their true goal. Just before the project was scrapped these two exorcists learned the truth about who they really were. They have kept this knowledge a secret and have been hunting for whatever scrap of evidence of their former life they can find.

The names of these two Second Exorcists? Yu Kanda and Alma Karma.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Black Order**

Saya was panting as she jumped off the roof of the building she had been running on. Her lungs heaved and her legs burned as she ran quicker. "Don't you think…" She huffed as she rolled and continued running, "that they would… have given up… by now…?"

"Don't you think…" Emiko panted as she ran alongside her longtime friend, "that you should… keep your mouth… shut…?"

Saya grinned as she jumped off the building and landed on the ground. "But it's more fun… this way…"

Emiko shook her head. "You've only made this worse."

"It's not my fault…" Saya pouted as they came to a split. "I'll go left…"

"Meet you outside the city." Emiko answered as they split up.

Saya grinned as she zigzagged through the streets of the city she was running in. This was the fifth attempted chase in the last two months and they had yet to be "caught". She still didn't understand why these two men were trying to chase her and Emiko down when it was obvious that they were all on the same side. Sweat stung her blue eyes as she pushed back her bangs and moved the front pieces of her A-Line styled hair from her neck; they were getting smarter and she was working harder to stay ahead. Finally, she slid around a corner and backed into a small alley that led her back the way she had just come and watched as the man chasing her continued.

"Success…" Saya muttered as she ran off to meet up with Emiko. "Hey Em looks like we made it!"

Emiko turned around and frowned at her as she ran her fingers through her ponytail to detangle her curls. "It took you longer this time than last time."

"You're coming with us." A male voice commanded causing Saya to turn around and sneer.

"And I thought I had lost you." Saya growled as she backed up until she bumped her back into Emiko's; apparently, the other man was behind her facing Emiko.

"Your stunt doesn't work." He answered coldly.

Saya sneered as she took a good look at one of the men who had been chasing her and Emiko for months. He had long black hair tied into a ponytail, blue eyes and a cold grimace that never seemed to go away. He was wearing a long black trench coat with white details on it, one was an interestingly designed cross on the left side of his chest. He also had a katana strapped to his left hip.

"You're one to talk, you've constantly been led off track when I've managed to backtrack and get away. Maybe you're getting smarter!" Saya teased.

"Saya…" Emiko muttered. "I would shut up."

"You know I can't do that." Saya answered back.

"You're coming with us. I don't care if I have to drag you there or not."

"Not happening."

"Saya maybe we should listen to what they have to say." Emiko sighed.

"No way! This guy's a jerk!" Saya snapped as she suddenly charged the man in front of her.

"Saya!" Emiko spun around to watch as her friend ran at the man.

Saya didn't listen, she charged straight at the man and swung at him, he moved out of the way. She wasn't trying hard but she was hoping to distract him to find an opening where she and Emiko could get away. She moved low, putting her hand to the ground and swinging up with her foot; she hit him in the jaw. It surprised her so much that she had actually hit him she didn't see his fist as he slammed it into her gut.

"Guh!" She cried as she doubled over for air.

The man's elbow came down on the side of her head slamming it into the ground and knocking her out, he rubbed his jaw with mild surprise that was quickly covered up by distaste. "You should have known better."

"You didn't have to hit her so hard Yu." The other man spoke up now as he walked over to Emiko where she had stopped to watch the failed fight. "You were the one that just walked up to them and said 'you're coming with us' without explaining why. You can't really blame her."

The man named Yu huffed at his partner then picked up the unconscious girl and walked off. The remaining man stood there, watching Yu walk off before whirling around to face Emiko.

"Okay, now... Don't try anything funny...!" The man had every intention of fighting the girl, but before he could lift his hands to form fists, he noticed a small smirk come from her.

"Forget it." Emiko rolled her eyes, walking over to him, lifting her arms. "Just make this quick, alright?"

"...Serious? You're not going to put up a fight?"

"Not after the ass whooping Saya just had." Emiko arched a brow, moving her hands a little closer to him.

"No need for restraints, then..." He smiled, grabbing her arm, while glancing at her long black hair and unusual pale brown eyes. "I'm Alma."

"Emiko." She returned the smile, feeling her cheeks flush as he looked at her.

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With Saya slung over one shoulder, Yu stood in front of the tall doors to their headquarters. Narrowing his eyes, he looked over his shoulder to see Alma trying to help Emiko up over the edge.

"Come on... It wasn't that much of a climb, was it...?" Alma tried to reason with Emiko.

"Are you...for real...?" Emiko grabbed into Alma's arm as he pulled her over, laying down on the ground to gasp for air.

"Gatekeeper, scan these two." Yu declared, setting Saya down on the ground.

Saya groaned slightly, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.

"Come on, you need to be scanned now..." Alma said, pulling Emiko over to her friend.

A large stone face protruded from the doorway, stretching to get eye to eye with the two women sitting on the ground. The gatekeeper narrowed his eyes as studied them, unable to determine what they were.

"...They must be Akuma!" The gatekeeper announced.

"They're not Akuma." Yu corrected. "Try again."

Grumbling, the gatekeeper took another look. Glancing at Yu and Alma, the gatekeeper remained silence, though backed away.

"They pass." He determined. "You may enter."

"Come on, now." Alma tried helping the girls up as Yu walked through the doorway. "Let's go inside."

"Y-you mean..." Emiko pointed to the door. "I-I-inside...there?"

"Aaaalright!" Saya hopped to her feet. "Looks pretty scary. Let's go!"

"I don't know about this..." Emiko tried to back up, though it did no good. Saya grabbed her wrist to drag her behind her.

As soon as they stepped inside Saya craned her neck back to see all the way to the top of the build. "Wow…" She muttered, for once she was nearly speechless but after her moment of awe she was right back to her talkative ways. "This place is HUGE! I'll bet there are at least 30 floors in here including a basement. So, do the girls get their own floor and the guys get their own? Or are there not enough girls to do that? Do we get our own showers or do we have to share with others? Is there a science section? What about dining? Is that on the same floor as the living quarters? And training rooms—"

Emiko's hand slapped over Saya's mouth as the smaller girl gave her friend an evil stare. "For once, Saya, would you just keep your mouth shut...?"

Saya pulled her friend's hand away and grinned. "It's part of my charm." She glanced over at Yu. "So, how's your jaw? I honestly didn't think you would have fallen for such a cheap attack. Did I make you bite your tongue?"

Yu glared coldly at Saya and was about to answer when Alma piped in.

"Yu maybe you should go tell the Chief we're back with the girls." He said as he slid between his partner and Saya.

Yu sneered but turned and began to walk away before Saya caught his attention again.

"Ooo so your name's Yu!" Saya chimed as she looked over Alma's shoulder. "I thought it would be something like Chung or maybe Mr. Dark One, or—"

Yu turned around stopping Saya's rant. "You are not allowed to call me that. If you must address me, it is Kanda or maybe you shouldn't talk to me at all."

Saya stuck her tongue out. "You're just sore about me kicking you in the jaw."

Yu stepped forward but Alma stayed in the way giving Yu a warning look. The taller man glanced at his partner before he turned his attention to the girl hiding behind him. "You were lucky. If I had wanted to fight you, you wouldn't have a chance."

"Rematch then." Saya answered sweetly as she batted her eyelashes at him.

"You would be wasting my time." Yu said as he turned and walked away.

Saya huffed. "You're just a sore loser!" She called, which Yu didn't dignify with an answer.

"You always have to get the last word in, don't you?" Emiko sighed as she shook her head.

Saya smirked as she began studying the interior of the building again. "Of course."

Alma stood there for a moment at a loss for what to do. He wasn't even sure Yu would go tell the director they had returned, but, after standing there a little uneasily, the man in question showed up.

"Ah, Alma…" The man said as he approached the three standing in the entryway. "I see you were successful at bringing in the two compatibles."

"Yes Komui. This is Saya," he indicated to the taller of the two girls; she waved.

"And this is Emiko." He said as he pointed to the other girl.

Komui smiled. "Welcome, welcome to the Black Order's headquarters. I'm Branch Chief Komui Lee; I'm head chief of the European branch obviously! It's so nice to finally meet you two! You've become quite infamous for running two of our best Exorcists on a wild goose chase for months."

Saya blinked, it was weird for her when she met someone almost as eccentric as she was. She narrowed her eyes as she sized up the man.

He was tall, about six foot three or four, which was tall for his ethnicity that she pegged for Chinese since she herself was Japanese. He had shoulder length black hair and matching dark slanted eyes, which were hidden partially behind a pair of glasses. He wore a white version of the coat that Yu and Alma were wearing and a white barrette to top it all off. She assumed that the out-of-bounds personality was a cover up for some deeper emotions.

Emiko on the other hand didn't seem to be as wary of the man and greeted him warmly. "I'm a little confused by all of this. What are compatibles? And what's the Black Order?"

Komui blinked and looked over at Alma. "You didn't explain any of this to them the first time?"

Alma winced. "Well no…" he began as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yu just kinda walked up to them and told them they were coming with us and they didn't have a choice…"

Komui laughed then as he fixed his glasses. "Well that might explain the months of playing cat and mouse with them." He turned to the two girls to explain. "Compatibles basically means people who are compatible with Innocence and the Black Order is a religious organization that has been at war against the Earl of Millennium for over a thousand years."

"Innocence…?" Emiko questioned as she tried to process the information she had just been given.

"The Innocence is the anti-Akuma weapon that helps us with the fight against the Earl and his Akuma." Komui answered, as he looked the girls over. "From what I was able to find out about you two girls at least one of you has an equipment type Innocence but I don't see anything on either of you."

"Equipment type? Is there a difference between what the Innocence can do?" Saya asked as she fiddled with the sleeve of her trench coat.

Komui watched her for a moment before he answered. "Yes." He swept his arm in a direction indicating to the two girls that they were to walk in that direction. "The equipment-type Innocence is usually forged to the user's abilities. They are the most common type of Innocence found but there is also the Parasite Type Innocence. That one is part of the user's body from birth; they also usually have a higher synchronization rate than those with equipment type. So, which type do you have… Saya, was it?"

Saya smirked and pulled something out from under her coat. It looked like a bow, and held its shape even though it seemed to be missing its string. "I guess I would have an equipment type Innocence but I never forged mine into any shape, this is how it's been since I found it in my hand…" She pursed her lips but didn't continue.

Komui didn't push. "So, then I would assume you have the parasite type. Emiko, correct?"

Emiko nodded but didn't explain further.

Komui smiled and stopped at a pair of large doors. "Here we are." He exclaimed while he turned to the girls. "Now which of you would like to go first?"

Emiko and Saya looked at each other, neither of them knew what was beyond that door and they had walked quite some ways from the entrance. Saya's paranoia was kicking into overtime because the escape routes she had been looking for were demising as they headed further into the headquarters and now they were supposed to enter a room that they knew nothing about. Finally, she sighed.

"I'll go first…" She said as she turned to Komui.

Komui seemed gleeful as he led Saya into the room and closed the two massive doors behind them. "Just stand there." He indicated to a round area in the walkway they were on.

Saya walked over to it and stood in the center as she looked around. Suddenly a large wisp-like creature came up from what seemed like a bottomless pit. It was female if the bottom half of the face was any indication but she was so large and covered in was appeared to be hair or tentacles. Saya's hair stood on end as she was suddenly wrapped up in several tentacles and lifted off the ground.

"What in heaven's name is going on here?" She exclaimed but was suddenly stopped when several of the tentacles went through her body. It feels like I'm being examined from the inside out! She thought as she squeezed her eyes shut against the sensation. Suddenly her forehead was pressed against the beings and it began to speak.

"20 percent… 35 …58 percent…72 percent… 92 percent…" The being lifted her head away from Saya's. "92 percent is the maximum synchronization percentage with your weapon."

Saya gaped at the huge snake-like being. "Synchronization percent…?" She stuttered as she gazed into the being's face.

"The lifeline of the anti-Akuma weapon activation. The lower the percentage the harder it is to activate and the more dangerous it is to use the Innocence. I'm sorry I startled you." The being stated as she set Saya down. "I was trying to get to know your Innocence."

"Get to know…?" Saya looked up at the being before her confused. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Komui's gleeful face, he had enjoyed letting her get freaked-out by the thing before her.

"Saya O'Connor you have one of the highest synchronization percentages below the generals. It is remarkable, that is my power."

"Amazing!" Komui exclaimed as he applauded. "To surprise Hevlaska like that with your synchronization percentage is truly outstanding!"

Saya growled and turned on the man behind her. "Why didn't you warn me?"

"All exorcists have to be examined by Hevlaska."

"You could have at least warned me!" Saya fumed before she sighed and looked at her bow. "So, I guess my synchronization percent is good for someone with an equipment-type Innocence?"

"It's great for anyone with an Innocence." Komui corrected. "To start out so high already is truly remarkable, only the generals are higher than that and it takes work and dedication to get to what they are at."

"What are they at…?"

"Above one hundred percent."

Saya blinked, she didn't even think that was possible. "So, what does this all mean now…?"

"It means you're ready to join our ranks as an Exorcist." Komui held out his hand for Saya. "Welcome to the Black Order."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: A New Beginning**

"So..." Alma attempted to break the silence as he glanced to Saya. "What did ya get?"

"I got a 92!" Saya smiled ear to ear. "I guess that's supposed to be really high for a weapon type."

"Well... Yeah, but it's called equipment-type Innocence." Alma corrected, sharing her smile. "You should probably remember that if you're going to stick around here."

"Yeah, probably." Saya nodded, moving back towards the large double doors Emiko disappeared into. Pressing her ear against it, she closed her eyes tight, trying to focus on the room.

"You won't be able to hear anything from in there." Alma nodded, smiling softly with a light chuckle. "Those doors are really thick."

"Can't blame me for trying. I'm curious if she'll be as high as me. You know, growing up, I was always the one to bail her out of trouble."

"I see..." He took in this information with a slight frown. "It's good you were there for her. I'm sure she did her best."

"Well, yeah but in certain situations, her best wasn't good enough." Saya shifted toward the middle, where the two doors meet. "Like this one time, someone thought it would be funny to trap her in an outhouse when she was like 7. She was so scared, but all the kids kept laughing-"

The doors opened quickly, giving Saya no warning as she fell to her knees.

"You're not telling that closet story, are you?" Emiko narrowed her eyes as Saya quickly got to her feet.

"Of course, not..." Saya giggled, her lies written all over her face.

"Alright, then." Komui accompanied Emiko in the doorway. "Let's take you two to your rooms."

Glancing over his shoulder, the tall man confirmed that both girls were still following him before taking them up a large stair case.

"So..." Saya whispered to her friend. "What did you get?"

"What are you talking about...?" Emiko whispered back, looking back to Alma who walked behind them.

"Your number. That sync number thingy..." She pressed on.

"Oh... I wouldn't worry about it..."

"Why? You jealous because I got a 92?" She smiled.

"Well, of course not." Emiko narrowed her eyes, raising her voice to a normal speaking tone. "I'll tell you later."

"Fine, fine." Saya followed suit in the volume of her voice. "Man, this is a long stair case..."

"This is the third floor." Komui announced as he continued up another flight of stairs. "Here you will find the cafeteria, lounge, and training room."

"Gee..." Emiko gasped as she looked up the tower of stairs. "This place just keeps getting bigger..."

"It's not so big once you explore a few times." Alma chimed in with a smile, attempting to reassure Emiko.

The group fell silent, the only sound echoing off the walls were the sound of their footsteps. Each step seemed to have been getting longer, as if gravity itself was trying to prevent them from reaching their rooms. Finally, Komui stopped abruptly at the top of the stairs. Once again, he looked over his shoulder to eye the two girls before turning around to face them.

"We're on the fifth floor now, which is where your rooms will be kept. If you follow me down the hall, we can get you settled in." He smiled. "I assume you two would like rooms next to each other?"

"Yes, please." Emiko nodded, clasping her hands down in front of her.

"Right, well, this way please." Both girls looked at every detail of the hall they walked down. Everything was so tall here, each door looking identical to the next. "Here you are. I'll send someone to get you for examination."

With that, the man disappeared down the stairs, leaving Alma with Saya and Emiko.

"Well, I guess I'll catch ya later." Alma smiled, and waved, glancing at Emiko quickly as he took off down the stairs.

Saya waved as Alma left then turned to Emiko. "Hey Em, what are we supposed to do? Just wait around until someone shows up for us?"

Emiko shrugged as she looked at the doors to their rooms. "How are we supposed to remember which rooms are ours…?"

"They are the 34th and 35th doors from the hallway." Saya answered as she looked around her. "I counted."

Emiko looked at her longtime friend with a skeptical eye, but she knew better than to question Saya. When she put her mind to it Saya could remember just about anything.

"HEY!" Saya shouted suddenly causing Emiko to flinch. "I'm going to that training area and see if I can't work on some close-range fighting."

"You have got to be joking. You just want to train so you can fight Kanda again don't you?"

Saya grinned widely as she winked. "Not at all. I just want to get a feel for the place. I mean if we're going to be working for these guys I might as well start seeing what the others are like."

Emiko sighed as she followed the ever-excited Saya down the stairs to the third level. It took them awhile to find the training area since they hadn't actually seen it, but once there Saya's face lit with excitement.

"Look how big it is!" Saya cried as she ran over to a training dummy. "There's so much ROOM here. Oh! Oh! They have targets for guns and bows! This is just so COOL!"

Emiko shook her head and sighed as she sat down on the floor against the wall and watched as Saya ran herself in circles as she decided what to do first. "Weren't you just going to do close quarters combat?"

"Yeah but they have shooting targets!" Saya whined as she grabbed a training bow off the wall. Quickly she filled a quiver that rested by a stand several yards from one of the targets. After testing the bow's flexibility, she smiled.

"Em this is so perfect!" She squealed as she picked up and arrow and held it in place against the string with her pointer and index fingers. Pulling the string back she rested the arrow's head just above her outstretched finger, aimed, and let the arrow fly. It soared through the air and sunk into the target; dead center.

"Show off." Emiko muttered with a smirk as she watched Saya's excited face as she grabbed another arrow and began firing them away as quickly as she could pick them up; they all grouped in a tight packet on the center ring of the target.

"She's really good at that, isn't she?" A male voice asked next to Emiko.

Emiko looked up to see Alma, she laughed a bit. "You should see her shoot more than one arrow."

Alma looked absolutely confused. "She can do that?"

"Hey Saya, go for three." Emiko said as she smirked at Alma.

"Three?" Saya whined. "But this bow doesn't look like it can hold three!"

"Oh, come on stop whining. You know you want to show off."

Saya laughed as she picked up three arrows and situated them on the bow she was using. "If this breaks you are so paying for it."

As she lined them up on the string and fixed her fingers so she was holding them good Yu showed up as well. "What is going on…?" He asked as he saw Alma and Emiko watching Saya.

Alma grinned. "Saya's gonna shoot three arrows at once."

Yu scoffed. "There's no way she's hitting the target with that."

"What was that?" Saya called as she suddenly rounded on the group and fired the arrows. They stuck into the wall in a perfect line, holding Yu's coat to the wall.

Everyone was speechless for a moment the Alma applauded. "THAT was spectacular! You even changed directions quickly and **still** got them to stick in a straight line!"

Yu glared at his friend as he yanked the arrows out of the wall. "Lucky shot."

Saya growled. "You're such a jerk! I'll show you lucky shot!" Quickly she drew another arrow without looking, lined it up, pulled and fired all within moments of each other. The arrow whistled past Yu, grazing his cheek without cutting him and stuck into the wall. It held one piece of his hair.

Yu glared coldly as his hand went for his sword. He was just about to go after Saya when Komui walked in.

"Ah here you two are." He said as he looked at Saya and Emiko. Then he noticed the three arrows now in Alma's hands and the arrow in the wall. "Were you practicing? I would have liked to have seen how you use your weapon."

Saya blushed as she grinned. "I was using one of these practice bows and well… I'm sorry about the arrow in the wall, Yu just said he didn't think I could shoot."

"It's Kanda…" Yu ground out between gritted teeth as he glared coldly at Saya once more before he popped the arrow out of the wall and handed it to Alma. "You're lucky that didn't cut me…" He stated before he left.

Alma's eyes were large as he watched Yu leave. "He totally just complimented you!"

Saya blinked. "That sounded more like a threat…"

"No that was totally a compliment! You totally caught him off guard with that." Alma said knowingly.

For some reason that had meant a lot to Saya, knowing that Yu liked her abilities with the bow, now she just wanted him to like her abilities with hand to hand. But before she could say anything Komui cleared his throat.

"Well if you two wouldn't mind coming with me we're just going to have you two checked out and maybe see if Johnny is available to consider getting you two your new attire." With that he turned to leave before they could argue. Emiko got up and followed Komui out of the room leaving Saya to scramble with clean up and follow.

Saya quickly caught up to Komui and her friend, both girls once again studying their surroundings as they were led through the building.

"Right this way, right this way!" Komui seemed extra enthusiastic about leading them to the examination clinic as opposed to where they would be sleeping. "Don't doddle, we wouldn't want you getting lost, now would we?"

"Hey, this place seems really confusing..." Emiko leaned toward Saya, speaking just above a whisper. "I wonder how they all remember where everything is."

"Who knows." Saya shrugged, speaking in a normal volume. "It seems alright though."

"I guess so." Emiko shrugged, heaving a heavy sigh as she tried to push the thought out of her head of something more going on.

It didn't take too long for the trio to reach the clinic. Komui stopped as the door opened, a tall man walking out.

"Take care of that jaw, Kanda." A male voice called from inside the room.

Yu looked to Komui, then the girls who accompanied him, narrowing his eyes at Saya.

"Ha! I knew it!" Saya blurted out, clasping her hands together in glee.

"Hnn..." Yu grumbled while turning to walk away. "Next time, you won't get such a lucky shot."

"Right. Next time I'll be even better!" Saya egged the man on, grinning to herself at the very thought of a 'next time.'

"Right, well then, right this way." Komui gestured to the opened door. "Who's first, hm? Emiko?"

"Fine, fine." Emiko sighed, walking through the door to see a woman with strawberry blond hair.

"Hello!" The woman greeted with a smile. "Just take a seat right over here."

Emiko walked over and hopped up on the tall padded table the woman had gestured to. Watching her, she fiddled with a few tools before turning to face her, holding a small flashlight.

"Alright, I'm just going to check your eyes..." She then peered at her pupils, using the flashlight to expand and shrink them.

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"Gee... This sure is taking forever..." Saya groaned, stretching.

"It's only been about 5 minutes..." Komui raised a brow as he corrected her. "It shouldn't be too

much longer."

"Hope not..." She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms.

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"What are you gonna do with that...?" Emiko shifted on the padded table, watching a two-inch long needle come her way.

"Well, I need to draw blood..." She cocked his head. "You're not afraid of a little needle, are you?"

"Well... Of course not..." The small woman then stretched out her arm, looking toward the ceiling as she felt the large rubber band tightening around her arm, before a small pinch on the underside of her elbow.

"There... Not so bad, right?" The woman consoled with a playful smile. "Alright all done. Would you like a lollipop for being so good?"

"No." Emiko narrowed her eyes as the woman giggled.

She smiled softly to herself while taking the tourniquet off her arm.

Emiko hopped off the table, rubbing the small sore spot on her arm. With a quick wave, she pushed one of the two double doors opened, gesturing to Saya that it was her turn.

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The exams were quickly done and Komui led the girls down several more hallways, up two flights of stairs, down another and zigzagged through some more hallways before he finally stopped by a door.

"Here we are." He said with a smile as he pushed the door open. "Johnny should be in here. Oh Johnny~!"

A small red-haired man stuck his head around a stack of books. "Yes, Chief Komui?"

"These are the two new recruits, Emiko and Saya. I know how you like to make uniforms for the exorcists and I thought I would bring them to you."

Johnny smiled and came around the corner letting the girls get a good look at him. He had curly red hair that had been pulled back into a ponytail, large round glasses covered his eyes and he wore a pair of headphones that were around his neck at the moment. He wasn't very tall and the white lab coat he was wearing was a bit wrinkled, showing the signs of someone who hasn't been to bed in at least twenty-four hours.

"Nice to meet you both!" He said with a true genuine smile. He exuded happiness almost the same way Yu exuded coldness; it was nearly catching. "If you guys don't mind I would love to make you uniforms."

Saya beamed right back. "I think that would be awesome, just no skirts for me. I can't stand that girly stuff."

Emiko shot her friend a glare. "You and your boyish ways…" She huffed as she fluffed the skirt she was wearing; Saya laughed.

Johnny smiled enthusiastically. "Well I'll just get your measurements and surprise you with the outcome!"

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Saya was in the training room again when Johnny came looking for her.

"Ah there you are!" He said with a big grin as he ran over to her. "Whoa…"

Saya's arms were almost a blur as she hit the practice dummy with a flurry of punches and a few swift kicks. She stopped when she noticed Johnny gawking at her.

"Oh uh…" She blushed as she stepped back and winced when she heard one of the arms crack. "Hiya… Did you need something…?"

Johnny blinked then gulped. "I don't think I've ever seen any of our female exorcists hit as hard or as fast as you" He was nervous but he laughed and smiled.

Saya blushed more as she rubbed her short hair. "I was always the one to get in fights so I learned how to hit. I fought dirty for a long time because being a female orphan on the streets ruled by guys isn't easy…"

"You're an orphan?" Johnny sounded truly shocked.

"Yeah me and Em both. She can rough and tumble too but she tried to hold on to that more feminine stuff that I never had so I was the one to do that fights." Then she spotted something black in Johnny's hands. "Is that my uniform?"

Johnny grinned. "It is! Let's go see how it fits!"

Saya followed him obediently as she tried to get a good look at it before he stopped at her bedroom door and handed it to her.

"Go on and try it on. See if you like it." Johnny smiled happily.

Saya disappeared into her room. A few minutes later there was a loud noise that had Emiko coming out of her room.

"Holy cow Johnny!" Saya cried from behind the door. "How am I supposed to fight in this?"

Johnny blushed thinking she didn't like it. "I can always make a new one…" He muttered.

Saya opened the door to reveal her new outfit. "Absolutely not." She answered as she stood there. "It fits like a glove, I'll just have to get used to it."

Emiko blinked and cocked her head as she took in Saya's outfit. The shirt she had on was a tight low cut sleeveless top that showed off the assets Saya received from her non-Japanese mother. She had leather arm gauntlets on each of her forearms in which Emiko assumed were to keep the bow and arrows from rubbing her skin wrong. Her legs were nearly covered by thigh high boots, which stopped and showed just an inch or so of skin before the small shorts covered the rest of her.

"Wow Saya…" Emiko snickered. "Too bad there's no trench coat for you."

Saya stuck her tongue out at her friend. "Actually…" She stopped as Yu came around the corner and caught a glance of her outfit; she smirked.

"Enjoying?" She chided as she leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms under her breasts.

Yu glared as he turned his attention away and continued walking on.

"Wow he really hates me…" Saya muttered as she grabbed the trench coat and slipped it on. "Your turn!" She said as she turned to Emiko.

Johnny held out Emiko her neatly folded clothes who then scooped them up and disappeared back into her room.

"Man, I love new clothes..." Emiko said to herself while setting her clothes down on her small bed.

Picking up the one-piece outfit, she sighed at the amount of black she would be wearing. Emiko laid out her clothing before quickly stripping out of the ones she'd be wearing, laying them on the bed beside her new uniform. Pulling the ensemble over her head, she let the fabric fall freely down her tiny frame. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she pulled the knee-high boots on, zipping them up in the back. Emiko stood, deciding the small lift to her boots would be more comfortable than she thought.

Emiko walked to the other side of the room to look at herself in the full body mirror. As soon as her eyes caught image of herself, she gaped in awe. The intricate design on her uniform was handled with such care. Her top had a cloth necklace sewn to her shirt by three thick pieces of cloth, leading into a corset design. The long sleeves were a nice touch. The shoulders puffed out slightly, though got tighter as they stretched down her arm, the sleeve opening as it reached her wrists. The skirt hung loosely around her waist, stopping halfway down her thigh, a small, faded black frill hugging the seams.

The young woman smiled at herself, with a soft giggle as she ran to the door. "I love it!" She belted out with glee. "It's beautiful."

Emiko caught eye of Yu standing in front of Saya, Alma taking the place of where Johnny once stood.

"Hey glad you're here!" Alma walked over to Emiko with a small wave. "We've just been given our first mission."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The First Mission**

Saya and Emiko followed the boys as they wound their way through the maze that they called headquarters as they made their way to Komui's office.

"Ah wonderful, wonderful." Komui confessed as he saw the group approach. "Your uniforms were done quickly, I'm impressed!"

Saya smiled as she fixed the belt that cinched the trench coat to her small waist; she hadn't wanted to close it completely because of the look on Yu's face when he glanced over and noticed her bare skin. It was somewhere between distaste, confusion, and even a tiny bit of enjoyment but there was no way she would point that out to him.

The man in question spoke up. "Why do all four of us need to go on a mission together? I'm sure they can do just fine alone."

"Well…" Komui began as he shuffled papers around to find a particular one. "It's because they're new and new recruits are always paired with a seasoned exorcist. As to why it must be all four of you… I would be fine placing either Saya or Emiko with Alma but putting either with you would probably result in a failed mission, civil unrest between you and the girl you're with, or an early death of the new exorcist." He smiled when he finished.

Yu stared at Komui as if he was thinking the last part wasn't a bad idea.

"I'm fine with us all working together I think it'll be fun seeing how everyone fights! I know I'm interested in seeing Saya use her bow in a real battle and I haven't even heard what Emiko uses, I bet it's awesome!" Alma chimed in before Yu could decide if he was going to say something snide or just storm out of the room.

"So, what's the mission…?" Saya asked as she stared at the paper in Komui's hands as if she could burn a hole through it to read it.

"Oh yes." Komui seemed to have completely forgotten why he had called them all into his office. "There have been reports of a building in a small town that seems to light on fire every night but every morning it's still standing like it wasn't burnt. There have been rumors that since the murder of a young man in the house the house has been haunted and the fires are due to his soul crying out for justice. It sounds like the work of an Innocence so I would like you all to go to the house, check it out and bring back the Innocence before anyone else gets there."

Saya grinned with a twinkle in her eye that meant she was ready to do battle with anything. "This sounds AWESOME! You can totally just send me, I can do it by myself."

Emiko turned to her friend. "You are absolutely not going anywhere near a burning house alone. You would somehow get the rest of the town to burn down before you could get to the Innocence."

Saya flushed as she rubbed the back of her head. "Just 'cause I'm accident prone with fire doesn't mean I'd burn the **whole** town down… maybe just half…?"

"You are not going alone."

"You're such a spoil sport." Saya pouted.

Alma watched the whole argument as if it were a tennis match going back and forth between the two girls before he cut in to keep them from continuing. "Come on, I think it'll be fun with all four of us."

"As long as none of you get in my way." Yu stated as he walked out of the room.

"Make sure you meet up with your Finders in the city!" Komui called as they all drudged out of his office.

"Finders…?" Saya questioned as she walked next to Alma.

"Finders are the people that usually go out and get the information for us on whether it's really an Innocence or something else."

"They're completely useless and die off quickly." Yu added as he led the way to the exit.

Saya made a face even though she knew Yu couldn't see it. "You're just a snob and need to take the mirror away from your face before you start talking again."

"Mirror…?" Alma asked as he cocked his head. "I've never heard that before."

"Saya is obsessed with Ancient Greek and Roman mythology…" Emiko answered from Alma's left. "The mirror in front of your face indicates your Narcissistic."

"Huh?"

"From the story of Narcissus who was cursed to fall in love with his own image and was unable to leave the sight of his own beauty and wasted away." Saya informed with a smile. "I was saying that Yu is so stuck on himself that he can't see others around him."

Yu clenched his fists but kept from turning around and snapping. "I'm leaving you all behind if you keep talking."

Saya sighed then ran over to Yu and crossed her arms. "I'll bet I can keep up with you at any pace."

"Hn… We'll see…"

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The group finally reached the town, just as the sun had started to go down. The town looked almost like a ghost town, complete with run down homes and beggars on the street.

"Man!" Saya gave an exhausted sigh. "It felt like that took forever."

"It wasn't so bad..." Alma gave a soft smile. "Only about three days."

"Three days is a long time when you're constantly walking." Emiko yawned, stretching.

"If you're going complain so much, you can just stay here." Yu rolled his eyes, stepping towards one of the beggars. "Where is the burning house?"

"Oh, could you spare a coin?" The beggar did her job well. "I'm starvin'. I haven't eaten in days."

Without another word, Yu sneered while walking away from the beggar, walking towards the center of town, the rest of the group following.

"Maybe we should look for someone who isn't a beggar..." Emiko suggested, looking around the rundown neighborhood.

Reaching the center of town, the four stood next to a fruit and vegetable stand to gain the appearance of a regular traveler.

"So, what's the plan?" Emiko asked, looking to Yu.

"...Figure out where that house is." Yu narrowed his eyes to the small woman.

"Hey, no need to be a jerk." Saya smirked.

"Why don't we split up? We'll cover more ground that way." Emiko suggested.

"Great. I'll go this way, you three go somewhere else." Yu turned to walk away, only to be stopped by Saya's hand to his wrist.

"Oh no ya don't!" Saya demanded. "The whole point of all four of us coming here was so the two new exorcists could be taught by the two experienced ones. Hint, hint!"

"Alma is perfectly capable of handling you two." Yu pulled his arm away.

"I think she's right, Kanda..." Alma chimed in. "Why don't you take one and I'll take the other?"

"I'll go with you, Alma." Emiko smiled, taking a step closer to him.

"A-alright." Alma blushed, rubbing the back of his head.

"That leaves you and me." Saya put her hands on her hips.

"Fine." Yu rolled his eyes. "Just don't get in my way."

"Psh! Don't get in my way." Saya pushed past him, giving him a grin.

"Alright then, Emiko. Let's go this way." Alma pointed to the opposite direction that Yu and Saya had walked.

"Let's go find that house." Emiko encouraged, following Alma through town.

The two walked side by side, remaining silent as they studied the residents of the town. Judging by the rags they wore, most of the people looked either homeless or close to it.

"Oh hey, maybe they can help us." Alma pointed to a wandering priest, heading in his direction.

"Excuse us..." Emiko greeted the priest.

"Yes, my children." The priest smiled softly.

"We're looking for that house that burns every night." Alma stated, watching the priests gentle face turn cold.

"That house is evil! You must stay away!" The priest took a step away from the exorcists. "It is run by the Devil!"

"Right..." Emiko tried to reason with the man. "That's why we want to find it... To see if we can't resolve this little issue of yours."

"Suit yourselves. May God be with you." The priest made the sign of the cross over his body before pointing off to the left. "It'll be the only house that is truly abandoned. No one will go near it. The presence of evil is far too strong..."

Alma nodded. "Thank you."

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Saya huffed as she stalked beside Yu while they looked for the finder or the house, after a while she just couldn't stay mad. "I'm not really sure why you hate me…" She muttered finally not really expecting an answer.

"New recruits don't last long." Yu answered.

Saya blinked. "I honestly did not expect you to answer that." She said as she cocked her head at him, a little confused. She opened her mouth to say something then quickly closed it and shook herself as she let go of something; suddenly she looked like a completely different person. All the teasing was gone; the loud mouth personality seemed to have melted away as she walked down the street Yu took notice of it.

"So, you choose to be annoying…?" He asked as he eyed her carefully, waiting for this to be a joke.

Saya barely smiled as she brushed a hand through her hair. She took a deep breath and then let it out slowly before answering his question. "I guess if you find it annoying then yes I choose to be annoying on purpose…" She started as she kept her gaze averted from Yu to avoid seeing what he thought.

"I guess my loud mouth personality is a bit of a front. I do it for Emiko but she doesn't know that I put up a front. She really does think that the talkative side of me is really me. I've kinda had to take on that protector role with her at a very young age, all the kids in our little village use to pick on her because she was always on the frail feminine side. Then after our village was attacked we were the only survivors and I kinda had to look out for both of us. We left Japan as quickly as we could and we lived on the streets for years. I've always been the one to be brave and forward when there's been a need because she really doesn't do well by herself" She laughed a little at that before she shook her head. "I think it would be nice if I could finally let that go… I'd like to be the one protected for once instead of being the protector, but I bet you didn't care to know that anyway."

"You still talk too much." Yu huffed but didn't comment on what Saya had said.

"Yeah, I guess I do." Saya answered but she didn't miss his lack of an answer. "Hey… Who's that in the brown running at us…?"

Yu looked at whom Saya was pointing at before he sneered. "That would be our finder."

The man in question finally ran up to them panting a little as he came within speaking distance. "Finally, I thought you exorcists were lost. The house is up this way but I haven't heard back from the other Finders. I'm thinking there's something going on."

"Lead the way." Saya said as she fell in behind the Finder as he took off at a fast run.

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Alma led the way as he scanned the area, in search of anything on fire. After heading down a long street, he turned right before stopping to turn around, looking from house to house. The two walked down a little further, noticing a house standing all by itself while walking toward it.

"They all look the same..." He concluded. "And none are on fire."

"Yeah but if you've noticed, the farther we've walked the less populated the area is." Emiko added in.

"Yeah... You're right." Alma clenched his fists tightly before relaxing them, repeating this process a few times as he stood on high alert. "We must be close."

As soon as the words passed through Alma's lips, a burst of flames erupted from a house behind him. A shock wave knocked the two about 3 yards away. Both slid about another foot in the dirt before lifting their heads to gasp for air as the black smoke billowed from the house.

"What the...?" Emiko coughed as she gazed upon the inferno. "Alma...!"

"That must be the house." Alma hopped to his feet, seemingly unscathed. "We better get in there before any Akuma get to the Innocence."

Nodding, Emiko pushed herself to her feet, dusting herself off while adjusting her skirt. Emiko froze as she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Slowly turning around, the small girl met the eyes of a large creature.

"Um..." Emiko tried to call to her partner, but her voice was lost. "...Alma...?"

Quickly Emiko looked around, her eyes jumping from object to object frantically looking for Alma before turning back to look at the creature in front of her. Taking a step back she watched as this creature whipped it's hand up as if to backhand her, sending her flying back. Emiko landed hard, though quickly focused as round two began.

"Emi!" Saya's voice echoed off each house as she ran down the dirt road.

Emiko flinched though looked as she heard Saya's voice. A sense of comfort fell over her, knowing that her friend would save her once again. Offering Saya a soft smile, Emiko shifted to get up, though a gut wrenching scream pushed her back down as blood splattered all over her body.

The young girl's eyes widened as she noticed Saya stop running out of the corner of her eye. Letting out a soft scream, Emiko looked at the blood in disgust before realizing that Saya wasn't the one who stopped the creature.

"You almost got killed!" Alma said, concern coating his tone.

Emiko looked up to him, gazing at the long thin wings protruding from his back, sliced through the creature. She was unable to determine why she suddenly felt so safe looking at Alma the way he was. Alma then reached out his hand to help her to her feet, Emiko smiling to him as she let him help her up.

"What was that thing...?" Emiko asked, trying to wipe the blood from her cheek.

"That's an Akuma." Alma informed, leading her away from it.

"Oh... I've never seen one like that before."

"That was only a level 2 Akuma... You've probably just seen level 1." He smiled.

"Great." Yu groaned as he walked passed Saya.

Saya ignored Yu's remark, as she stood, dumbstruck, watching Alma lead Emiko away.

"Hey!" Saya broke from her daze. "The burning house!" She then jogged to catch up to Yu.

"You're too slow." Yu muttered as he unsheathed his sword and began to activate it.

Saya growled. "I'll show you slow!" She snapped as she pulled her bow out from the little slot in the trench coat that held it to her back. Quickly she ran her fingers from the bottom to the top as if she was stringing the bow and suddenly there was a glowing blue line that acted like the string. She pulled the string back as if she had an arrow already in place to shoot and aimed it at the Akuma

"Arrow of exploding light!" Saya cried as a bright glowing arrow formed just as she released the string launching the arrow at the Akuma. The glowing arrow sunk into the Akuma's shoulder joint where it sizzled for a moment then suddenly exploded, tearing off the Akuma's right arm.

"Direct hit!" Saya cried as she did a little victory dance. She took aim and fired a volley of exploding arrows at the Akuma in front of her not realizing that there was another coming up from behind.

"Saya!" Emiko screamed as she pointed at another level 2 Akuma preparing an attack on the girl with the bow.

Saya turned around, eyes widening as she took in how close it had gotten to her without her knowing. "Crap…"

Suddenly the Akuma began to spit a stream of frozen fire in her direction giving her no chance to dodge.

"You're supposed to move." Someone shouted as a body slammed into her rolling her out of the way.

"Oof…" Saya exclaimed, as she looked up into the face of the person her knocked her. "Y… Kanda…?"

Yu grimaced as he sat up off her and turned to face the Akuma. "I told you… You're too slow."

Saya blinked as she noticed the severe burns that cut through his coat to his back. "Ah…" She began but closed her mouth as he looked at her; he didn't want a thank you. Then she noticed a third Akuma.

"Damn it!" She cried as she got to her feet. "It's going for the building!" Without thinking Saya charged directly at the front door of the burning house, slamming her shoulder into the door following the blow into a roll when the door fell back against her weight; the doorway was then engulfed in flames.

"Saya!" Emiko screamed as she watched her friend dive into the burning building. "What are you doing?"

"Emiko!" Alma called out as a he watched his new friend run toward the house, only to be caught off guard by an Akuma.

"That Innocence is mine!" The Akuma roared as it swung its large claw like hand at Emiko.

With a soft scream, Emiko jumped back.

"Do something!" Yu snapped, jumping to slice his blade through the creature. As the Akuma fell in two, Yu glared at Emiko. "Maybe this job just isn't your cup of tea..."

Emiko sighed softly as she took a few steps back, hiding as close to the house as possible without the flames touching her.

"He thinks I'm useless...?" Emiko smirked as she looked down at the pink nail polish coating her fingernails. She then felt a slight burning sensation in her fingertips as the nails began to stretch, coating themselves in what looked like steel before silver tint turned a flat green. Relaxing her fingers, she allowed the nails to grow only about a foot long before turning to face the battlefield.

"Where'd that kid go?" Yu demanded an answer from Alma, who merely shrugged while warding off any Akuma who approached.

Yu seemed focused enough, though one Akuma who seemed to have the exorcist in his reach now occupied his blind spot. Reaching his large claw like hand out, he stretched it to grip Yu's ponytail.

"What the...?" Yu roared as he went to whirl around to face the monster. "You're dead!"

Yu barely had enough time to finish his sentence before the life flushed from the Akuma's eyes. Five thin knives sliced through the Akuma around where the heart would be, as if he were butter. Emiko grinned softly as she gripped the creature, twisted her hand, and pulled her hand free.

"So you do have some fight in you." Yu narrowed his eyes, annoyed it took her so long.

Emiko remained silent as the Akuma fell to the dirt ground, holding a ball of flesh in her hand which she proceeded in throwing down next to the Akuma.

"Where was that spirit about 15 minutes ago?" Alma laughed lightly as his current opponent collapsed. "So you're a Parasite-Type too!"

Emiko nodded to him with a smile, trying to ignore gore on her hand, and under her nails. She couldn't help but cringe at the feeling, quickly flicking her hand to rid herself of the carnage.

Inside the heat of the fire hit Saya hard enough that she staggered and struggled to clear her head enough to begin the search for the Innocence. She also found out quickly that the flames were indeed real as she slapped out the few flames that caught to her coat. Shaking her head to try and clear up some of the fog that settled over her with the heat she quickly began searching the house and stamping out any flames that tried to catch onto her.

"This is like finding a needle in a haystack…" She grumbled as she kicked open yet another door. "Where do I even begin?"

"Exorcist!" The Akuma shouted as Saya turned a corner and ran face to face with the one that had been trying to get into the house.

"Crap…" Saya muttered as she grabbed the door handle, wincing at the heat, and slammed the door shut before sticking a chair under the knob and running off.

"EXORCIST!" The Akuma cried as the door burst outward letting the creature out of the room.

Saya covered her face from the splinters of the door then patted herself down again to keep the flames from catching. "This is getting really old…" She grumbled as she grabbed her bow and activated it again.

The Akuma didn't give her a chance to draw. The creature's excessive speed caught Saya off guard as it wrapped a massive claw around her and threw her a wall. Before she had a chance to recover the Akuma pounced again and kicked her through the ceiling to land on the second floor above.

Saya pushed herself free of the rubble and carefully got to her feet. Her hair was singed, and her trench coat was torn. Coughing she yanked a splinter from her arm and glared.

"You are so dead…" She growled as she jumped back through the hole with her bow pulled taught; the Akuma wasn't there. Carefully she walked over the rubble on the floor of what she assumed was once a living room as she looked for the Akuma. As she looked she realized that the heat wasn't as intense on the first floor as it had been on the second floor, a small indication that the Innocence was probably on the floor above.

As she considered the possibilities the Akuma rushed her left flank. "You will die Exorcist!" It screeched.

"You first Akuma!" Saya answered back as she swiveled and released her arrow into the Akuma. She missed by a fraction and her arrow sunk into the floorboards; it exploded knocking both the Akuma and Saya several feet back and across the floors.

Saya came to a halt when her back slammed into a wall. "Alright, switching arrows…" She muttered as she pushed herself to her feet; shrapnel from the explosion had torn off her left boot. Hissing at the pain from her bare foot touching the burning floor she pulled her bow pack for another arrow.

The Akuma shot up from under a pile of wood looking slightly damaged but not enough. "I'll get you!" It cried as its hands suddenly turned into scythes.

"That's new…" Saya said as she switched her grip on the bow. "A thousand freezing arrows!" She released her string as an electric blue arrow formed and split into multiples of itself. Most missed due to the small area and the large quantity of arrows but enough hit the target and froze him in place.

"CURSE YOU!" The Akuma shouted as he tried in vain to free itself.

"That won't hold forever…" Saya muttered as she quickly ran for the stairs, stepping on the frozen sections with her bare foot when she could and hoping quickly when she couldn't until she reached the stairs and quickly raced up them. "Gotta find it, gotta find it…" She muttered over and over as she searched for the hotter parts of the house.

Suddenly the floor exploded under as the hand of the Akuma shot up and grabbed her. "I've caught you Exorcist! I'm going to slice you into little pieces!"

Saya hissed in pain as she pulled back her bow. "One chance…" She muttered as she switched her fingers to the way she would hold two arrows. "Double exploding ice arrows!"

The arrows formed again just as she released the sting and two ice arrows sunk into the face and neck of the Akuma. The freezing began instantly as Saya quickly covered her face; the Akuma exploded.

Saya was sent flying backwards where she slammed through two walls then skidded to a halt against a third. Moaning, she laid there for a moment, bleeding, beaten and burned, as she struggled to right her mind. The heat in the room where she had come to a halt was intense, almost too much to bear, that caused her to open her eyes. There, sitting on a table in the middle of the room was the Innocence ablaze in a blue and purple flame.

"Found it…" She muttered as she slowly stood and took off her now shredded trench coat. She ripped pieces off the coat and wrapped them around her hands as much as she could and still hand the mobility to grip. As soon as she was sure she was as covered as she could get she grabbed the Innocence. Instantly she was engulfed in the blue flames. The heat was unbearable but she gripped the Innocence even if she would burn alive.

"Please…" She begged as she struggled to stand. "You're safe now, I'm taking you somewhere safe until we find someone who can use you as you were intended to be used for…"

It didn't seem to work but slowly the heat began to subside and the flames that licked across her skin began to pull away. Finally the house stopped burning and the Innocence began to cool.

"Thank you…" Saya murmured with a smoke-filled voice. Slowly she made her way out of the house.

Emiko, Alma and Yu stood outside and watched as the flames subsided and died out. With their battles complete they wondered how Saya faired with hers. After a long moment of silence Emiko began to rush the house.

"Wait!" Alma cried as he grabbed a hold of the small girl. "It's not safe just to rush in, that house is unstable and the explosions probably didn't make it any better. Besides… We don't know if it's Saya that's still alive in that house or the Akuma…"

"I can't just leave her!" Emiko cried as she tried to pull away from Alma's grip.

"It doesn't look like you have to." Yu answered as he moved closer to the door of the house where a figure was emerging.

Emiko and Alma turned their attention to the door and just as Yu said there was Saya slowly making her way out of the house.

"I found it…" She murmured as she noticed them all staring at her. "It's safe…"

"Saya!" Emiko cried as she pulled free of Alma to rush her friend, but she didn't make it before Saya collapsed.

Yu did however catch Saya as she fell. As he considered her state he carefully shifted her around and hoisted her onto his back; she moaned but other than that didn't do or say anything. After shifting her weight onto his back, he held her with one arm and moved her arms over his head; they still were clenched around the Innocence. Finally he wrapped his other arm under her and began walking off.

"Let's move." He growled as he turned down the street.

"Kanda…?" Saya murmured as she lifted her head and brushed her nose in his hair as she did.

"Why are you carrying me…?"

"Because you're too slow without being injured and I'm not waiting for you." He answered.

Saya leaned her head against his shoulder again as she tried to peel her hands away from the Innocence. "I can't hold it anymore…"

Sighing Yu stopped and shifted her weight enough so he could carefully pull the Innocence from her burned hands. "You'll be lucky if you can use those ever again."

"As long as I got the Innocence before the Akuma, I don't care what happens to me." Saya answered.

Yu shook his head as he stuffed the Innocence into his coat, but now it didn't really bother him that she was resting against the burns on his back; he was smiling just a little.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Away from Home**

Emiko sighed softly as she grouped up Saya's hair, looking at the burned ends.

"You know..." Emiko let the strands run through her fingers. "There wasn't much to begin with..."

"I know, I know." Saya pushed her friend's hand away from her hair as she turned to look at her. "It wasn't really my fault though. I can't control fire."

"No, but you can control yourself." Emiko turned Saya back around as she reached for her small comb and scissors.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Saya huffed.

"You didn't have to run into that building, you know." Emiko began combing Saya's hair, snipping away at the burned parts. "It's going to take a lot to get this looking right."

"It's just hair Em. It does grow back." Saya crossed her arms, shifting in her squeaky wheelchair.

"Stop moving. Unless you want me to just give you a buzz cut." Emiko smiled as she continued to trim the burned ends.

"Well let's not get crazy now..." Saya slouched slightly. "Are you finished yet?"

"No, now stop moving or it'll take longer." Emiko brushed through her friend's hair, checking to make sure everything was even.

Just then, a light knock echoed through the room as the door cracked open.

"...Emiko?" Alma's voice came from the small opening in the doorway.

"You can come in, Alma." Emiko smiled to greet her new friend as he walked into the room. "What's up?"

"Well, I was given another mission. It's kind of far away, so Komui told me to take you with me."

"Oh, really?" Emiko finished up Saya's hair. "What's it all about?"

"It's in China... We've gotta hurry though, so pack a few necessities and meet me downstairs, 'kay?"

"Okay." Emiko nodded with a soft giggle.

Saya arched a brow as she watched Emiko wave to Alma as he left. She laughed softly while pushing herself away from her chair to stand.

"What's that all about?" Saya put her hands on her hips.

"What?" With an arched brow, Emiko walked over to her dresser to grab a few assorted things to set on the bed.

"Serious?" Saya smirked as she mocked Emiko's giggle. "Sure, Alma. Anything for you, Alma"

"Oh, stop it. I don't sound like that." Emiko narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, you do. You were practically drooling over the guy."

"Was not!" Emiko smirked, setting her toothbrush, toothpaste, and hair brush side by side.

"Well... At least hurry up and finish my hair before you leave." Saya tapped her fingers on the wooden arm of her wheelchair.

"Right." Emiko smiled as she laid her friends hair before fluffing the back with her fingers. "There, you're finished."

"Neat, thanks." She smiled, feeling the soft tendrils after a fresh new cut.

"No problem. I should get going though. Alma's waiting." Emiko smiled softly in spite of herself.

"Of course," Saya smirked, gripping the wheels on her chair while giving them a push. "Lemme know when you get back."

"Okay." Emiko waved a soft goodbye as she watched her friend disappear into the vast hallway.

Emiko took a quick glance around her room, feeling a weight on her chest. Shaking her head, she smirked. It was too soon to call this place home. She made her way over to her bed, sliding her things into a small knapsack before rushing out the door. She knew it in her heart that Alma was still waiting for her, by the door, patiently. The fact that she knew she would see him momentarily made her almost giddy.

"There you are." Alma smiled in a greeting as he watched Emiko coming down the last flight of stairs. "We have a long way to go. I'll explain the mission on the way."

"Okay." Emiko hurried over, waiting to hear what the next few days had in store. "It'll be cool to spend the next couple of days in China..."

"Honestly, we'll probably be there longer than just a couple days..." Alma rubbed the back of his head with a soft chuckle. "Do you have any idea where we're going?"

"Yes. China." She tilted her head with an arched brow, pushing her way through the doors while feeling the cool air touch her fair skin.

"Yeah... China is far away. We'll probably be there for a while."

"Well, how long is 'a while'?"

"Depending on the case... I'd say probably a couple months."

"Months?" Emiko gasped. "That is a long time... Something tells me I should have packed more."

"You'll be fine." Alma laughed. "Headquarters funds our travels, so we'll be fine."

"Okay, that's good." She nodded with a light chuckle.

"You didn't really think we'd go without anything to fall back on, did you?"

"Well... No, I guess not."

"That'd be irresponsible." He smiled at her, helping her down the cliff.

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The first day of their journey was long and tiring. The distance didn't seem to bother Alma much, though Emiko asked for breaks often. Alma never seemed to mind, and let her take as much time as she needed to collect herself enough for another couple hours of walking.

"How much further is it...?" Emiko huffed, running her fingers through her hair.

"It's pretty far. We're only on day one..." Alma tried reasoning with her, assuming she had never seen a world map before. "We can take a break if you want to."

"Nah..." Guilty, Emiko forced herself to walk a few more miles before taking yet another break; they were coming quicker. "We can go... for a little longer."

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Huffing and puffing, Emiko drug her feet as she trucked on behind Alma, who still seemed unscathed by their journey. Realizing her pain, Alma looked over his shoulder to offer his friend a comforting smile before grabbing her hand.

"Just a little longer and then we'll set up camp for the night." He reassured her as he grasped her hand to help her along.

"Okay." Emiko smiled as she felt him squeeze her hand softly for a moment.

The last hour seemed to drag on slower than the beginning of their trip. Alma still held Emiko's hand, though his grip seemed to be a little firmer than hers. With a sigh, she stopped, pulling her hand back.

"Okay, let's set up camp." She announced, plopping down on the ground. "If I wasn't so tired, I'd probably be completely grossed out by sitting on the ground."

Alma laughed slightly before placing his hands on his hips.

"Well that'd be fine but what are we supposed to sleep on?" He gestured around him, pointing out the fact that neither one of them brought any luggage.

"Oh, right..." Emiko smiled with a sheepish grin.

"There should be a town just up ahead." Alma pulled out a map from his back pocket, taking a quick glance before nodding and stuffing it back where he got it.

The two of them resumed walking, the fact that a town had been right around the corner gave Emiko a second wind. With this short supply of energy, she had stretched her arms up high, taking a few steps to walk in front of Alma.

"This oughtta be cool." She smiled. "It's not every day I get to travel."

"Well... The life of an exorcist keeps you constantly moving." He grinned.

"It's got to be so cool to meet new people every day."

Alma nodded to her with a sweet smile as they rounded a narrow dirt road to approach a lively small town. Emiko's eyes lit up with the amount of color, music, and dancing. Gaping at the women dancing in a line on a manmade wooden stage, she nudged Alma

"This is beautiful!" She gasped in excitement.

"It must be some kind of festival." Alma concluded as he studied the people. "Let's go look for a place to stay for the night."

It didn't take long for the two to find a place to sleep. A small Inn in the center of town suited them both nicely. Both had walked into the building and up to the front desk quietly before noticing no one was around.

"Maybe they're closed?" Emiko suggested, scanning the room for any employee.

Alma tapped his hand on a small bell on the desk, letting the ding sound it made ring loudly. Just then a tall, thin man appeared from the doorway just beyond the desk.

"Yes?" He greeted in a nasally voice, inching up his glasses as he approached the exorcists.

"We've come from the Black Order..." Alma greeted as he shifted to show the cross on his uniform. "They should have set up two rooms for us."

The man let out a low-pitched hum through his barely parted lips while studying a few sheets of paper in front of him.

"It seems I do have 2 rooms, side by side, set up by the Black Order." He muttered, still looking over the list of clientele he's had recently and was expecting. "Here are your room keys."

Alma took both keys before escorting Emiko off toward their rooms, handing her one of the keys somewhere along the line.

"That was easy." Emiko pointed out. "We don't have to pay?"

"Nope. Headquarters takes care of our expenses." Alma smiled, looking at the plastic tag attached to the room key. "Looks like we're upstairs."

The two shuffled upstairs quickly, locating their rooms within minutes of being upstairs. Though the inn looked small from the outside, it was rather large in actuality. Emiko beat Alma to her door, unlocking it in a hurry and swinging the door open.

"Man, I could use a bath..." She muttered while stepping into the room.

"It's pretty small." Alma pointed out as he followed her in. "If you need anything, just knock."

"Alright." She then waved him a goodbye as she watched him closing the door behind him.

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The sun quickly set, giving the stars their chance to shine down to the small village. One of the perks to a room on the second floor was the small balcony attached to the window. It was just enough for one person to relax comfortably, though that was all Emiko needed. Pulling the small rubber band from her high ponytail, she let her long black locks fall to her lower back as she stepped out, feeling the warm breeze against her skin. To her surprise, Alma was sitting in a chair on his balcony.

"Fancy meeting you here." He laughed slightly, standing to greet her. "Can't sleep either?"

"It's so pretty out, I couldn't help myself." She leaned against the railing to face him.

Alma nodded with a smile as he turned away to look at the town. It seemed as soon as the sun rested, so did the villagers. Not a sound echoed through the old streets, though there was a dog howling in the distance.

"Man, it's like a ghost town..." Emiko ran her fingers through her long hair, combing it.

"Yeah. It seems everyone has the same bed time." Alma chuckled.

Emiko agreed with him by giving a soft laugh. The silence was deafening, almost eerie. Shifting her weight to one side, the young girl flinched as she heard someone walking down the hallway of the second floor. Both Alma and Emiko looked at each other, the heavy feet of this person catching their attention.

"That's weird..." Emiko whispered, watching the shadow move past her door.

Alma nodded before disappearing back into his room. Emiko froze, following suit. She had left all the lights off in her room, and was now thanking her lucky stars that she did. Whoever had been patrolling the inn didn't seem to be walking with much consideration for the guests here.

Moving to her bed, she plopped down to wait for Alma to return to his balcony, though the couple minutes she waited felt like hours. With a gasp, she heard her doorknob twisting, though the lock caught it, preventing it from opening any further.

"Emiko let me in." Alma whispered as he tapped on the door.

With a sigh of relief, she moved to the door, unlocking it as he rushed in.

"Something feels off about this place." He concluded as he walked over to shut the window.

"Yeah, it does seem funny." Emiko returned to the corner of the bed.

"I don't know about you, but I think it'd be safer if we bunked in the same room."

"I'm sure it's just someone who works here." Emiko attempted to reason with Alma.

"I dunno..." He then began pacing back and forth. "Why would he stomp around the hallway, knowing people are sleeping?"

"He could just be rude." She shrugged.

"Maybe... Something tells me this place is crawling with Akuma."

"You're just being paranoid because everyone was asleep by sundown."

"Well it is a little strange." He smiled with a chuckle.

"They all could just be worn out from that festival." She smiled back.

Alma stopped to weigh the positive and negative aspects of the village. He fell silent for a moment as he moved over to the window to peer out at the ghost town.

"You know... I'll be fine. You and Yu didn't hunt me for nothing." She leaned back against the headboard of her bed. "Despite what Saya says, I can handle myself."

"I have to take care of you though..." Alma muttered, just loud enough for Emiko to hear.

With a gasp, he hadn't realized the words that escaped him. Turning around to collect himself, he noticed a stunned look on her face.

"Who gave you that job? Saya?" Emiko raised a brow.

"No…" He answered honestly. "It's just how I feel. If something were to happen to you..."

Emiko remained silent as he took a pause in his sentence, though he never finished it. With a sigh, he shook his head before beginning to walk towards the door.

"Maybe we should sleep in separate rooms." He nodded with a smile, trying to give the illusion that the previous conversation hadn't happened.

Grabbing the doorknob, he twisted it quickly while rushing to the hallway. Stopping abruptly, he felt the soft grasp on the back of his cloak. Slowly he turned around to meet the gentle eyes of Emiko, keeping the fact that her speed had puzzled him to himself. A light sigh past through his lips as he laid a reassuring hand to her shoulder, for the first time noticing the light caramel color tainting her eyes. Without a word spoke, Emiko touched her hand to his before leaning up to press her lips to his. Holding that gentle kiss for no more than a few seconds, she turned, disappearing back into her room.

Alma stood there, dazed and confused. He bit his lower lip, pondering the reason for the gesture before writing it off as a thank you for the heartfelt words. Though try as he might, the thought stayed with him until his head hit his pillow, then followed him into his subconscious.

It seemed as soon as he fell into a deep sleep, he heard a crash from a distance away. The roaring that echoed the streets were just quiet enough to where he knew it wouldn't have awoken Emiko, but his experience with the Black Order had left him prepared for such an act. Laying there, he listened as the loud footsteps crashed into the dirt before heard it crushing stone, the roaring getting slightly louder.

"He's getting closer..." Alma determined as he slid out of bed. "I need to get Emiko."

Within seconds, he had been knocking on her door and jiggling the door handle.

"...Nnn..." Emiko groaned loudly. "I don't want any room service."

"Emiko!" Alma smacked his forehead while sighing. "This is serious! Wake up!"

Alma took a step away from the door as he heard his companion shuffling towards the door, pulling it open to peek out at him.

"What time is it?"

"No time for that." He kicked himself for being so rude as he pushed his way into her room. "There's an attack outside."

Grabbing her hand, he rushed her over to the window, seeing a rather large Akuma ripping through town. Emiko gasped while backing away from the window.

"What do we do?" Emiko looked to Alma for the answers, though hearing the creature scream for exorcists, she already knew what he was going to say. "Lure him away from the town, then destroy him."

"You got it." He continued to watch the Akuma. "I wonder why he's here..."

"Can't you hear him?" She gestured to the window before crossing her arm over her chest. "He's looking for us."

"Yeah, but how'd he know..."

"Who knows? Let's just get this over with so we can move on. I don't want to come back here after we destroy him."

Alma nodded, understanding her reason for abandoning their rooms. After the Akuma destroyed parts of this peaceful town they would be the one to blame in the morning.

Within minutes, both members were running out of the inn, down the street, and right past the Akuma.

"Exorcist!" The Akuma roared, taking off into a sprint after the duo.

"Alma, look out!" Emiko yelped as the creature came up quick on the two.

Alma jumped to the side, just barely dodging the creature's large claw like hand as it swung where his head was. Seeing this as an opportunity, Emiko leaped onto the Akuma's back, hugging her arms around its neck.

"Emiko, what are you doing?" Alma gasped.

Unable to answer, she merely gave him a reassuring look as the creature flung her back and forth. Activating the Innocence harnessed in her fingertips, her nails began glowing a bright green as they extended nearly a foot long, becoming hard as steel.

"Get off me!" The Akuma's anger rose as he tried reaching for the girl hanging onto it's back.

This girl then reached her arm high above her, rearing back for a quick kill, though her almost victory was cut short as the Akuma's large arm plucked her from its back, throwing her before it.

"Now..." It cackled. "You shall DIE!"

Wide eyed, Emiko squealed as she watched the Akuma raise both fists to touch the sky, pouring those evil eyes into her soul. Getting a sort of tunnel vision, her surrounding area began to paint itself black; the only thing visible were those eyes for only a mere second longer before disappearing.

"Hey, Emiko."

Alma's voice broke through the darkness; Emiko shaking her head to regain her composure. As the dull color flooded back into the blanket of night covering the town, the young girl tilted her head at Alma kneeling in front of her.

"Al...ma...?" Confused, Emiko sat up, looking back and forth between the slain Akuma and Alma. "What just happened?"

"I killed it." He stated plainly with a smile, helping her to her feet.

"But how? All I remember was looking into that thing's eyes, and then...at you..." She snuck another peek at the Akuma.

"Oh. Well it was about to attack you, so I killed it." He nodded.

"You saved me…?" She smiled softly.

"Well, yeah. I wouldn't let anything happen to you." Alma didn't realize the magnitude of the words he spoke until he seen Emiko's expression change. Though his tone was very calm while speaking, as if he were telling her what he did during his day to day events, her expression took it as if it were a confession of love.

"Oh..." Emiko shifted away from her partner, pulling herself to her feet. Her heart fluttered though she no longer knew what to say to him.

Both fell silent. Alma finished the necessary precautions with the Akuma before they continued on their journey, Emiko unable to think of a single thing to say. The feeling in her chest scared her. The thought of having feelings for another person was something she never wanted to experience. With each passing mile, she continued to look to the ground for the answers, though the feeling of the warm sun on her skin caught her attention. Looking forward, she noticed a large body of water not too far ahead of them.

"We're going to go by ferry for a little while." Alma smiled with a quick glance to Emiko. "I hope you don't get sea sick."

"Me too..." She gave a light chuckle while running her fingers through her long black hair, brushing it with her fingertips.

The pair approached the table by the ferry, Alma doing his usual 'we come from the Black Order' speech before they were allowed onto the boat. Emiko hesitated before walking up the long ramp leading onto the boat, though seeing Alma's reassuring smile pushed her along faster. Grabbing the rope handle, she pulled herself up onto the boat, gasping as she took in the scenery.

"First time on a boat?" Alma asked as he walked with her to the edge of the boat.

"It is." She nodded, looking out over the ocean. "It's so beautiful."

"Yeah..." He watched her stare in awe at the horizon, giving a half smile. "It is..."

Emiko blushed in spite of herself, glancing at Alma.

"We should be in China soon, yes?" She tried to will the burning sensation in her cheeks away.

Alma nodded, turning to face the ocean as the boat began to sail. Both watched as the small waves crashed into the sides of the boat, feeling a sense of calm shelter them. Taking a deep breath, Alma stepped closer to Emiko, laying a hand on hers. Emiko squeezed his hand softly as she looked up to him. He still looked over the horizon, though Emiko studied him for a moment. With a faint smile, she looked away, feeling the connection strongly between them.

The day turned to night, and all the passengers on the boat were fast asleep. The sun rose quickly, though not much went on during the boat trip. Each day passed by slowly, one by one the passengers looking more and more depressed by each passing minute.

Emiko stayed in her bunk for most of the day, only coming out when she heard the loud bell of the captain.

"Next stop! China!" The captain yelled.

Emiko rushed from her bunk, finishing up the last braid of one of her soft pigtails. Alma's room was next to hers, though of course he had reached the deck before her. She smiled softly as she seen him mingling with the crew, herself excited to be off the boat and in China.

Walking back over to the railing of the boat, she smiled even bigger at the sight of land. Alma soon joined her; standing a little closer than normal to her. Emiko closed herself up as he stepped into her personal space, though she felt safe with him that close to her. Each of the passengers went to their bunks as the ferry docked, gathering all their things.

"Well, we made it." Emiko gave a sigh of relief. "Now to find that Innocence."

Alma shifted to face her, still standing within inches from her. He opened his mouth to speak, though stopped himself as he pondered a little more what he wanted to say before deeming it silly and looked away from her. Emiko couldn't help but notice how he was acting, though seeing the trouble he was having trying to express himself, she said nothing.

A light flutter pulsed his heart as he reached his hand up to stroke Emiko's hair, causing her to look up at him. He couldn't help feeling impulsive, what with all the time they had already spent together. It seemed right; seemed to fit so perfectly. Brushing her bangs from her eyes, he laid his hand to her cheek, Emiko grasping his hand, which rested on her. Both lost in the moment, they inched toward each other to bring in the greeting to China together, though a grumble from behind them brought their greeting to a halt.

"Come on you two. Get a move on." The captain crossed his arms, tapping his foot.

Alma smiled softly, with a light laugh as he merely rested his forehead against Emiko's for a second before they both grabbed each other's hand, lacing their fingers together, as the captain led them off the boat.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Recuperating with Truth**

Saya was sitting in bed staring out the window like she had been for the last few weeks. She sighed as she gripped the covers in her hands lightly, closing her hands completely was hard. Her hair had grown out since Emiko had cut it to make it even and now it brushed her chin when she turned her head.

It had been weeks since she had run into the burning building to save the Innocence from an Akuma that had gone in after it. She had been burned badly and several of them had left scars that had made it hard for her to move around. After the burns had begun to heal up she had been doing some physical therapy; getting her body back into shape to move around again without the scars stiffening up and keeping her muscles from moving. At first, she was really into getting herself back into shape and she trained hard to being able to work with the damage she had received but when they finally let her try using the bow again she fell into a depression; she couldn't hold a bow.

Now she sat in her room just staring out a window. She didn't talk to anyone and many of the exorcists had given up trying to get her to cheer up. Komui made it a point that someone at least brought her food so that she would eat and not waste away but no one seemed to shake her from her state. She would just watch them come in and then sigh when they left and turn back to the window. It was routine now.

Finally, someone had to break that cycle.

This morning started the same, Saya sitting in bed and staring out the window and sighing once in a while, but it didn't stay the same long. The door slammed open and Yu stood in the doorway; Saya flinched at the sound.

"Get up." Yu snapped as he stood there.

Saya stared at him with wide eyes, the first real reaction she had had in a very long time, but after a moment she turned away and stared out the window.

Yu ground his teeth as he stomped into the room. "I said get up. I've had enough of this self-pity you've decided to have it's pathetic."

Saya turned back to him and stared. "Then get out of the room." She finally answered, her voice hoarse from lack of use, but she had finally said something.

Yu glared. "You're getting out of that bed. We have a mission and I'm to get you into fighting shape before we leave. I'm done watching you wallow in your own misery it's beyond pathetic. You're a useless exorcist."

Saya glared, it seemed only Yu could get a rise out of her and it appeared to be working. "If you think I'm such a useless exorcist then why are you even telling me any of this? Why don't you go on the mission alone if you're so amazing?"

Yu clenched his fist before he grabbed the covers and yanked them back. "You're getting out of bed and you're coming with me." He grabbed her by the arm and half pulled half dragged her from the bed; she stumbled when her feet hit the floor.

She stood quickly and jabbed a finger in his chest. "What is wrong with you? Is it so hard to understand that I can't do it anymore? I can't use my hands and therefore I can't use my weapon!"

"You're using them right now." Yu answered with a smirk as he indicated her clenched fists.

Saya growled and uncurled her fingers cringing at the tightness in her hands. "You just like to really dig at anything that has emotions, don't you?"

"You're acting like a child who was told they can't have their favorite candy. If you want to be an exorcist and want to use that bow, then you better do something about it besides sitting in bed and staring out a window." Yu chided as he watched her with an amused smirk.

Saya growled and threw her hands up in frustration as she turned around to stomp away from him. Her left leg gave out causing her to crumple to the ground. Yu caught her arm and steadied her before she could hit the ground. There was a moment where they both stared at each other in surprise; Saya surprised that he had even touched her in a way that wasn't yanking her around and Yu surprised that he had tried to stop her from falling.

A moment passed as Saya could almost feel something click and she knew without a doubt that the reason Yu drove her absolutely nuts was because she well and truly liked him. He wasn't just extremely good looking but there was something under that stone-cold personality that she had caught glimpses of and she had liked what she saw. She opened her mouth to say something about it but the moment was over and Yu's grip on her arm changed as he turned to drag her from the room.

"We're going now." He growled as he tried to drag her from room.

"Damn it Y… Kanda! Do you realize I'm in my pajamas? I'm not going to the training rooms in my pj's!" Saya cried as she pulled her arm back trying to keep from being dragged out of the room.

Yu stopped and turned around to see what she was talking about, and realized why she would have a problem; she wasn't wearing much. A thing top that was nearly see through and a pair of small shorts were all that covered her. Gritting his teeth, he let go of her arm.

"Fine." He snarled as he grabbed the door. "Get changed then get downstairs. I don't have any choice in the matter and only have two days to get you in a better state than you are now so be quick about it!" With that he slammed the door behind him.

Saya stuck her tongue out at the closed door before she sighed and dug through the small half empty chest for something to wear. After a moment, she stood there staring at a pair of pants that would certainly cover the scar on her leg but probably keep her from being too mobile or some shorts that would show off the scar but wouldn't hinder her. This was the first time she had ever had to actually think about what she wanted to wear; it perturbed her. Finally, she decided on the shorts since she knew that Yu would just harass her if she wore something that would limit her mobility. With her bottoms chosen she set to wrapping her chest with a wrap she had procured from the bottom of a drawer then pulling on an old top before stepping into a pair of flat kung-Fu shoes and heading to the training room.

"Well here I am." Saya muttered as she walked into the room, it was empty except for Yu standing in one of the pits with his jacket off. She stared, she couldn't help it, he was standing shirtless without a thought and she liked what she saw. He was staring too, but his staring was more of an assessing as he finally got a good look at the long scar that ran up her left leg.

It was the worst burn scar she had received from her thoughtless feat of running into a burning building. It ran from just above her ankle to just below her knee then started again just over her knee and ended just inside her shorts, where her uniform shorts would have ended. There was another scar that ran around the whole width of her upper thigh in a complete circle, crossing over the other scar. There were other scars that crisscrossed all over her body but this was one of the few that was visible and stood out against her pale skin.

Saya crossed her arms under her breasts, she envied Emiko who could actually cross her arms over her chest and not have a problem but Saya had to make sure she crossed her arms under to be comfortable, and cleared her throat. "Hideous I know. Can get move on or was this the only reason you dragged me out of my room?"

Yu blinked before he looked at Saya's face. "I was noticing how your scar avoids the points where it would be the most hindering. It seems the Innocence knew what would be the most harmful."

Saya snickered as she showed him her hands, two tiny, nearly invisible star shaped scars cut across her palms. "Apparently, it didn't know I needed my hands."

Yu made a noncommittal noise then indicated to the pit he was in, obviously stating he wanted her to get in. Sighing she walked over to the area he was in and stepped down onto the sand that filled the bottom of the training pits. She tested the ground under her feet before she got back out and took off her shoes. Growing up on the streets without good clothing or shoes had made it where she was comfortable fighting without them.

"Nice tattoo…" She muttered as she took notice of Yu's bare chest again. Her statement seemed to have surprised him because he looked down and noticed his chest was bare, it was clear that that wasn't his intention.

"Geez if you didn't want me to see if you should have covered up." Saya teased as she quickly glanced at the rest of his bare chest again, she just couldn't help herself.

Yu sneered as he assessed what he wanted to do, but the damage was done and she had already seen the tattoo. So he gave up and turned around before quickly tossing something at Saya who snatched it out the air then fumbled with it when her hands protested in gripping the item.

"Are you serious…?" She asked as she picked up the bamboo training sword. "You're giving me a sword? You have got to be joking."

"You are going to train and you aren't going to complain."

"You're going to kick my ass." Saya growled as she attempted to grip the sword, her hands protested.

Yu smirked as he gripped his own. "That's the point."

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Saya groaned as she flopped onto her bed. Every part of her body ached and her hands burned like hell; she couldn't even move them now. As she laid there her stomach growled at her for the first time in a very long time but she could get up.

"Damn it…" She whined as she rolled onto her side on her bed. "I'm so hungry but there's no way I'm getting up again today…"

As if he was just waiting for her to complain Yu kicked open the door again and stalked into the room. "You need to eat."

"Bite me." Saya answered without any enthusiasm just as her stomach growled again, Yu smirked.

"Sit up and try and act like a person and not an animal." He said as he smirked as sat a plate of food down on the table end. Saya sat upright quickly and only the tightening around her mouth and eyes gave away the amount of pain she really was in; it made Yu like her just a little bit more.

He liked her? It caught him off guard and he stilled as he really thought about what had just popped into his head. It was something he didn't think would have ever happened. She was loud, obnoxious, hyper and stubborn, but it appeared that the personality traits that usually bothered him in everyone else made him admire her. She was beyond stubborn; she had run into a building that was on fire to get the Innocence before the Akuma without a thought for her own life. She also went into the training without complaining even though he could see she was in pain; it made him respect her even more.

As he was thinking Saya had attacked her food without remorse, or utensils. "Are you just going to stand there and stare while I fail to eat my food with my useless hands? Or are you going to eat yourself since I see you brought your own plate."

Yu blinked then scowled at her. "You're eating like an animal."

"What do you expect? I can't hold chopsticks as you should have noticed earlier when I attempted to use them and I highly, highly doubt you're here to feed me since I obviously can barely feed myself. So either don't complain if you're going to eat in my room or leave so I can feed myself in peace."

Yu sighed and then sat down on the small chair that was in room, pulled out a pair of chopsticks and began eating. They ate in silence, Saya eating slower and even attempting to use the chopsticks again but after failing several more times she went back to eating the rice with her fingers. Finally Yu huffed, a sound that was close to a laugh, which surprised Saya out of her stupor of food hunger to stare at him in surprise.

"What?" She asked as she brushed off the pieces of rice from her fingers onto her plate.

"You have rice on your face." He answered with a smirk as he reached over and plucked the rice from her face; Saya blushed.

They stayed like that for a moment. Close enough to touch but no one able to fill those last few inches because of the weight of things that hung in that space unsaid kept them from moving. Finally Yu stood, breaking whatever spell had been over them, and missing yet another opportunity; they were running out of chances.

"Go to sleep." Yu said with a bite as he picked up the food trays and heading for the door. "You have training again early tomorrow."

Saya blinked before she grumbled. "You're such a jerk." But he couldn't hear her; he had shut the door already. Sighing she rolled over into her bed and was soon asleep.

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The next day had come and gone quickly, Saya still hurt at the end of the day but not as badly as she had the first time. Yu had brought her food again but didn't stay this time after what happened the first night; it bothered her a little. Now she stood in the gray light of the third morning staring at the little clothing she wore and she tried to decide what looked close enough to the uniform when there was a knock on the door.

"Saya?" It was Johnny's voice.

"Johnny!" Saya cried as she flung open the door and smiled at him. "So happy to see you. I didn't think I would have a uniform."

Johnny smiled at her. "I honestly had it ready a few days after you had returned but since you were still recuperating I kept it, then I had to make some alterations since you… lost some weight…"

Saya smiled, she knew he was trying not to bring up her weeks of depression. "I hope you didn't bring them in too much, I've been eating like a cow."

Johnny blushed and smiled bigger. "No, just took some advice from Emiko on what I should do for you, I think it worked out well."

Saya blinked and had the sudden urge to rip through the clothing to see if it was a long frilly dress that sat folded up in Johnny's hands, but she resisted. "Well let's see what it is!"

Johnny handed over the folded cloth and shut the door saying, "I'd like to see how they turned out if you don't mind. I'll just wait here."

Saya sighed as she laid the cloth on the bed. She knew one of them was a trench coat by the rougher material but had no clue what the rest of it was until she held it up: a kimono. She stared at, at least it wasn't lace, and shook her head as she stripped and changed into the new uniform. The kimono was a little loose, but with the sash tied tightly it wasn't noticeable and it fit comfortably. It was longer than her shorts, hitting her at her mid-thigh instead of her upper-thigh. There were white knee-high stockings that went with a pair of ankle boots. The trench coat covered everything, falling to mid-calf and belting just below the tie on the kimono. It wasn't obvious she was wearing a dress unless she moved a certain way, and it also covered all her visible scars, which made her happy.

Pursing her lips, she stared at herself in the mirror in her room before running her fingers through and messing up her short hair and smiling. She surprisingly liked the outfit, which was a first since she hated anything with a skirt on it.

Pulling open the door she jumped at Johnny, hugging him. "It's awesome! I love it!"

Johnny blushed as he hugged her back. "I thought you would like something that was a little more covering. I didn't know if what happened to you bothered you."

Saya beamed at him. "Thank you so very much."

A noise to their left interrupted Saya's gushing. Turning her head she noticed Yu was glaring at her.

"If you're done with your overly excited gesture about clothing it's time to go. We're already running late."

Saya stuck her tongue out at Yu before she hugged Johnny once more and disappeared into her room.

"You don't have to be such a cold person." She stated as she came back out with a little bag over her shoulder.

"You don't have to be such a spazz." Yu answered, "but we can't have everything, can we?"

Saya blinked. "You totally just made a joke."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Yu sighed as he picked up the pace.

Saya shook her head as she matched his pace. It was going to be a long journey.

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It was several hours of walking before they hit the first town where they'd catch a train the next morning. Saya's lungs burned from all the walking and her left leg protested supporting her weight, but outwardly she made sure it wouldn't be noticeable. Not that it mattered; Yu hadn't really looked at her longer than a second just to make sure she was still behind him. They had walked in silence for most of it except for the one time she had slid on some loose gravel and slammed into Yu's back and he snapped at her to watch her step; she had missed the hint of concern in his voice.

"So…" Saya murmured as she took a deep breath and put her hands on her hips. "Is this the town we're stopping at?"

"Yes." Yu answered as he stopped and looked Saya over. His eyes lingered on the positioning of her left leg, she had tilted so the weight was off it; she didn't perceive that he had noticed her stance. "We should have rooms at the inn near the train station."

Saya balked. "Really…? We're staying at an inn?"

Yu stared at her slight baffled. "And why wouldn't we?"

Saya blushed and crossed her arms as she mumbled. "It's just… I don't remember the last time I stayed at one…"

Yu actually laughed. "That's pathetic."

"It's not like Emiko and I had a lot of money!" Saya snapped in defense. "We lived on the streets or in abandoned houses. The only times we stayed at an inn was when I had gotten enough money to let Emiko stay in one…"

Yu stopped laughing and just shook his head as he turned away and began walking again. "I don't know whether to laugh because you've never stayed in one or laugh even more because Emiko is spoiled by you. Either way you're pathetic."

"At least I got you laughing." Saya answered as she followed him, trying hard to keep most of her weight off her left leg without limping or letting Yu notice anything different.

"What?" Yu shouted as he stared aghast at the Inn Keeper.

"I'm sorry sir." The man answered, as he looked a little spooked. "I know the Black Order asked for two rooms but we're completely booked. We tried to rearrange things for you but we couldn't get a second room."

Yu was fuming as he glared at the heavy-set older man behind the counter. Just as he opened his mouth to say some Saya stepped forward, putting a hand on his arm and moved him aside to speak.

"One room is fine." She said with a smile. "We're only staying for one night, I don't think it will bother us much."

The Innkeeper smiled back and looked extremely relieved as he handed over the room key to Saya. "I'm so very sorry about this but thank you, thank you very much."

Saya smiled more as she accepted the key and led Yu away from the man with her hand still on his arm before he jumped over the counter and strangled him. She let her hand drop and moved back when they rounded the corner and saw the stairs; their room was on the second floor. Puffing up her cheeks and blowing the air up into her hair she honestly didn't think she could walk up the stairs with how much her leg was hurting but she couldn't let Yu know. Luckily, he had gone up ahead of her and had turned a corner looking for their room so she quickly limped up the stairs to join him before he came looking.

"Looks like our room will be facing the station." She commented as she came upon the room and Yu. She unlocked the door and stopped, there was only one bed.

"Peachy…" She muttered as she walked in. Her eyes quickly scanned the room for ways in and ways out when she noticed the window had a seat under it. "I'll sleep there."

Yu turned to see where she was heading to and caught the back of her coat. "You're sleeping on the bed. I will not have you watching my back when you can hardly walk."

"I'm walking just fine."

"If you think so." Yu answered as he walked past her. "You're still not sleeping by the window."

"Fine." Saya growled then sighed and walked away and scanned over the room once more and noticed there wasn't a bathroom, just a pitcher of water and a basin with a cloth for washing.

"Lovely…" She muttered as she stomped over to it and grabbed the folding partition so she could clean up without Yu seeing her. "You stay over there until I'm done. I don't need you trying to see me naked."

"As if I would want to do that." Yu muttered as he looked around the room as Saya had. He caught Saya's reflection in the window and stared. Her back was to him and she had taken off the coat and the top of the kimono giving him a view of the long burn scar that ran from her left shoulder to under the kimono at a diagonal. He hadn't seen it before and it caught him off guard that the scar on her back didn't hinder her upper body movement like the one on her leg limited the length she could walk. He turned away from her reflection and sat down so he couldn't see her.

He was angry with himself for letting himself get attached to her, but he was and he couldn't deny it. Watching her struggle to train with him the last two days was hard but her determination made him proud of her, she didn't give up even when she was in pain, like she was now. He could see it in the way she held her weight when they would stop and the tightness around her lips and eyes, but she didn't say anything and so he didn't say anything. He slammed his fist against the wall as he growled at himself; he shouldn't be having feelings for anyone let alone this girl.

"Would you knock that off?" Saya called from behind the partition. "I don't need you putting a hole through the wall, they'll never forgive us."

Yu sighed as he leaned back against the wall and set his foot on the bench as he looked out the window. He couldn't argue with her, but he didn't want to be in the same room as her, he didn't think he could handle watching her try to hide her pain. Thankfully the sky was pitch black by the time she had finished scrubbing herself down and came out from behind the folding screen to sit on the bed, he knew she wouldn't be awake much longer because she had worn herself out.

She was staring at him, he could tell from the reflection in the glass, but she hadn't said anything so he didn't acknowledge that he knew she was looking at him. Finally she opened her mouth and he readied for her to speak, but she only closed her mouth, shook her head and grabbed the top blanket off the bed before making her way slowly, very slowly, to him and holding it out.

"I don't need you catching a cold." She murmured quietly as she held the blanket out to him.

Yu narrowed his eyes at the comment but grabbed the blanket and their hands touched. Another weighted moment passed between them, as if the whole world had taken and breath and held it, waiting to see what they would do next, but he simply took the blanket from her and tried to ignore the hurt that passed through her eyes just as she tried to ignore it herself.

"Go lay down before you fall down. The train comes early in the morning and I don't need to carry you all the way there." Yu stated without any real anger as he draped the blanket over his legs for her benefit instead of his and turned back to the window. It was going to be a very, very long mission.

It was halfway through the night when Yu woke up on edge. He couldn't quite place what had woken him but he was suddenly alert and looking for danger. Then he heard what had woken him; it was Saya. Quietly he stood and made his way over to the bed to see why she had made a sound and found her thrashing around in the bed. He was confused until he heard her whisper the word 'fire' as she squirmed in the bad and realized she was having a nightmare. This was new territory for him, he had absolutely no idea what to do and was about to just walk back to the window when she suddenly cried out and sat up abruptly.

She was shaking uncontrollably and tears were streaming down her cheeks with a look of sheer terror plain on her face as she tried to figure out where she was. Her eyes fell on Yu and she stared at him in shock as she slowly began to remember where they were.

"Yu…?" She whispered, her voice was full of fear that she was trying to hide. "I'm sorry, did I wake you…?"

"And probably the people in the room next to us when you screamed. "He answered then realized that was probably not the right thing to say when he saw the look on her face. He sighed and sat down on the bed slowly to not spook her. "How long have you been having these nightmares…?"

"Since I ran into that building…" She answered as she gripped the sleeve of his coat as if anchoring herself to him. "I keep reliving it over and over but this time I don't do it right… I don't get away when the Akuma's hand grabs me from under the floor…"

Yu watched her as she struggled with the dream. He had read the report, the Akuma had caught her as she was running on the second floor and she had nearly killed them both when she had shot it in the face with her exploding arrows. It had surprised everyone that she had survived, but apparently part of her had been damaged by the idea that she may not survive the attack. She was strong and he was sure that with time she would be able to get over the nightmares, but it appeared that she needed more than just her own willpower to get over them so he let her talk them out.

She was silent though, just sat there, gripping his sleeve tightly, which probably hurt her hand. He didn't say anything though, just sat there, waiting for her to either do or say something, but after a while he started to wonder if maybe she had fallen asleep sitting up so he started to get off the bed.

"Yu…?" Saya murmured quietly, almost afraid of the response she was going to get.

"Yes?" He answered as he sat back down and waited.

"Please don't go…" She said in a small voice as she struggled to keep the tears that were shining in her eyes from falling. "I'm afraid to go back there…"

Yu stared at her for a long moment, bewildered by the statement, but he didn't move. Finally he answered her. "Go back to sleep…"

So she did, scooting to the edge of the bed and rolling to her side. She kept a grip on his coat until he finally wiggled her hand free and uncurled her fingers. He leaned against the wall, put her hand over his and squeezed it lightly, letting her know he hadn't gone anywhere; she smiled.

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They were in India within days instead of the weeks or months it would have taken them to travel by foot. Yu had explained the mission while they were on the train; neither of them had talked about that night at the inn.

Their pace was slower than it had been when they first set out. Yu took more breaks and they didn't travel as far. She found it weird but wasn't complaining since the pain in her leg didn't get as bad when they traveled less. When they would hit the towns she would go and ask around about the young Chinese girl they were looking for. For the most part they always seemed a step behind but she did find out more about the girl.

She was young, twelve was the average age guess by the locals, and she hadn't been in India long. She would come into a town that was having issues with something and would save the town and be off again. She was shy and quiet when they would try to thank her, but she was said to have shielded orphans that were stuck in a burning building when the roof collapsed all of them survived. She was even said to have healing abilities and in several villages she had healed people that were originally told they wouldn't make it.

"It sounds like she's an Innocence compatible." Saya said as she came back from questioning another local of a small village that she and Yu had stopped in. "And she was here just last night so she might still be here."

Yu growled, he was getting more and more abrasive with each passing day, and, at first, she equated it the fact that they were always just missing the person they were looking for but now she wasn't so sure.

"Why so grouchy all the time?" She asked as she followed him while they searched for a place to stay. It was easy getting a room in a busy inn or a place in someone's home when they said they were part of the Black Order; that name carried weight anywhere. "It's not like we can predict where she's going to be."

Yu made a gruff noise but otherwise didn't answer, so they fell into silence again. Saya's mind wandered as it had been since the first night at the Inn. She hadn't had nightmares since Yu held her hand the rest of the night and now she wondered how he felt about her. She knew how she felt. She couldn't deny it after what she had said to him that night, how she had asked him to stay with her, how afraid she had been until be he said he would.

But why had he stayed? Did he care about her like she cared for him? Or was it self-preservation? Did he stay next to her that night so she would sleep and he wouldn't have to pick up the slack if she lost sleep over the dreams? But then why hold her hand?

She mulled over the questions yet again as she had been since day two of the trip but was still nowhere near an answer. In fact, she had been lost in thought, following him through the town, into an inn and up into their room without even noticing it until she walked right into his back when he stopped.

"Ooff…" She mumbled as she stumbled back. "Geez, might warn a girl when you stop moving."

"You should pay attention and stop being in your head." Yu snapped as he brushed past her to slam the door close then stalk off to the window.

She noticed that there were two beds in this room so she knew that he hadn't been able to procure two rooms but at least two beds and a bathroom before she turned to get mad at him.

"Why are you snapping at me? I haven't done a damn thing." Saya snapped at Yu as she put her hands on her hips. "It's not like I can just automatically tell where this girl is going to be at any given time. Sorry but my Innocence doesn't do that."

Yu didn't answer, just kept his back to her as he glared out the window.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Saya cried as she stalked up to Yu, invading his personal space. It was difficult for her to be this close to him and not have the urge to either kiss him or tell him how she really felt, but she was angry enough to keep those thoughts to herself. "It's not like I'm uselessly following you around. I pull my own weight, I went and talked to people when you were wanting to kill them."

Yu stared down at the smaller girl as he clenched his fists. He resisted his urge to turn around and not give her a direct answer but standing there wasn't any easier for him. Her strength and loyalty had surprised him and stirred something in him that he hadn't felt for anyone. He didn't like the new feelings he had for her and being on this mission alone with her for so long was grating his nerves. So he answered harshly. "You're loud, you talk too much, and you never know when to shut up. There is no sneaking up on an enemy with you around because they'll hear us coming from a mile away. And you're slow, you cannot keep a good pace and that means we're always behind our objective."

Saya started at him in shock, she didn't understand where his argument was coming from, she hadn't spoken much to him this entire trip and she wasn't the one that slowed down the pace they went at. "Do **not** blame this on me. I was not the one that decided to slow down I was keeping up with your earlier pace just fine."

"You were completely useless by the end of the traveling." Yu snapped. "You could hardly walk at that pace and I don't need dead weight!"

Saya recoiled like she had been hit. His words stung, she had been trying hard to not be dead weight and having him tell her that she was had dug in deep. She bit her lip as she struggled with her emotions and nodded her head.

"So that's what you think of me…" She murmured as she stepped back. "You shouldn't have brought me along if that's what you thought…"

Before Yu could respond she was out the door and down the stairs. He regretted what he had said to her but couldn't take it back now. Eventually she would return to the Inn for the night and they would be on their way to the next town by morning. Hopefully the mission would end and they could return to the headquarters and he could avoid her, and his feelings for her.

As evening approached and Saya didn't return Yu began to wonder where she was or what she was doing. It bothered him that he was worrying about someone at all but he couldn't help thinking about her. She still hadn't been able to shoot her bow though her hand to hand was much better than it was before so he didn't worry about human enemies, but if an Akuma showed up she wouldn't be able to fight. She was easy prey for them and she was making herself a walking target wearing her uniform; the cross on the left side of the jacket screamed what she was.

A loud scream ripped through the cooling night air only to be cut off abruptly and even though he had never heard Saya scream before he knew it was hers. She was in trouble and he was nowhere near her, as he opened the window and took off in the direction the scream had come from he could only hope that she was still alive; that he would get there in time.

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Saya growled to herself as she kicked a pebble across the small street she was walking on. She shouldn't have let herself get upset with what Yu had said and she was angry with herself that she did. It was obvious he didn't have feelings for her, she was deluding herself into thinking he did.

Her thoughts carried her outside of the tiny village towards the sound of the river they were near cascading over a ledge into the little valley below. She hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings, it seemed to be a recurring issue that she would need to deal with, when the sound of hissing laughter had her turning around and coming face to face with an Akuma.

"Crap…" She muttered as she tried to take a step back but her heel hit air as rocks skittered down the face of the cliff; there was nowhere to go.

"Don't worry," the Akuma chided as he looked at her with sly pleasure. "I'm not going to kill you… yet. You exorcists have been traveling in pairs recently so I'm just going to use you as bait until I get the other one. Then I'm going to kill you both!"

Saya grimaced as she reached her hand under the back of her coat for her bow but she wouldn't have time to use it. The Akuma disappeared then reappeared right in front of her startling her just long enough.

"Boo." It said with a sinister smile before it pushed her off the cliff.

She screamed she couldn't help it though part of her knew that was the whole point of pushing her off the cliff. Her scream ended abruptly when the Akuma teleported next to her as she fell and grabbed her, knocking her out in the process.

Yu wasn't sure if he would be able to save Saya as he counted the time it took from the scream to him making his way out of the town. He couldn't even be sure that he was heading in the exact direction he needed to go in because he had nothing but the sound to go on, but his doubts were stuffed away when he turned the corner and came upon small waterfall. He stood there for a moment looking around, trying to figure out what could have happened to her. When he finally moved to the edge of the cliff and looked down he found her. His world froze, he couldn't tell if she was alive or dead, but he was hopeful the drop wouldn't have killed her if she had really fallen so he hunted for the quickest way down.

"Saya…?" Yu asked as he skidded to a halt at the bottom of the cliff. To his relief, she was still breathing but it looked like she had gotten tangled up in some vines on her way down. One arm was tangled up above her head while the other was out straight from her shoulder and the rest of her was caught up in several vines; she was unconscious. He looked her over carefully to look for any injuries but he didn't see any so he pulled out his katana and began cutting the vines away from her body.

"Yu…?" Saya murmured, the sound of him cutting the vines must have woken her. Her eyes open to slits as she tried to focus on him. "You shouldn't be here."

"And you should be more careful." Yu grunted as he cut the last of the vines that were holding her up. He caught her as she fell and held her upright.

She clung to him, shaking, her fingers gripping his arms tightly. Her face was pressed into his shoulder where she was trying not to cry. She hadn't had a chance to fight back and that had scared her more than she wanted to admit. Her nerves were frazzled and she wasn't thinking straight. She knew that she should tell him to leave, that it was a trap for him, that the Akuma was waiting even if he hadn't noticed yet, but she couldn't think past how much she didn't want to leave the safety of his arms. This was her only chance to say or do anything about her feelings for him; she couldn't let this one go because she feared there would never be another.

It was only seconds between Yu cutting Saya out of the vines and Saya's decision to take this chance but it had felt like years for her. She moved her head away from his shoulder causing him to look down at her. He was going to ask her something but she didn't want that, instead she leaned into him and pressed her lips against his. He froze under her and she figured she had her answer; he didn't care for her as she cared for him, but then his arms tightened around her and he kissed her back.

She was elated, she felt as if everything just melted away but it only lasted a moment until she remembered why she had been out here in the first place.

"You need to leave." She said as she pulled away from him. "This is all a trap. It wasn't going to hurt me because it wanted you too. You need to get out of here."

Yu stared at her as he tried to figure out what she meant when a noise in the brush in front of him caught his attention. He released his hold on her and pulled her around him, putting himself between her and the noise when the Akuma that had attacked her earlier appeared behind them.

"You're such a fool!" It cackled as Yu spun around to face the Akuma. "You fell right for it. You should have left when she told you the first time but now you're both going to die!"

The noise that had caught Yu's attention got louder until another Akuma emerged from the brush, and then another and another until they were surrounded. Saya flinched and turned so her back was against Yu's as they faced their opponents.

"Well…" She murmured as she grabbed her bow and pulled it free. "If this doesn't grab that girl's attention I don't know what will."

"Activate, Mugen." Yu huffed as he unsheathed his sword then turned his attention to Saya. "You better not get yourself killed when I just saved you."

Saya smirked. "Of course not, especially since I have some questions for you after this. Let's go Kyudo."

With that she activated her bow and prepared to fight a losing battle against the Akuma that surrounding them.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Potential Recruits**

Night had settled into the vast village which rested on China's shore, most of its inhabitants dining by candlelight in their homes. Alma had set up for a quiet dinner for the two at the inn the Black Order had picked for them. Though small and quiet, the food wasn't so bad; the two had no intention of staying there that night. It had been four days since their arrival in China, and neither one spoke of the event on the boat. As soon as they had made it through their first day, it was strictly business from then on.

"It's almost like home cooked meals." Emiko teased as she took a sip of water.

"Mhm." Alma smiled to her. "So, after we leave here, we'll head West a little more before we reach India."

"Are you sure we should go to India?" Emiko twirled the end of her hair between two fingers. "Headquarters told us to go to China..."

"Not technically..." He pushed his empty plate away, stuffed from the curry and rice he had for dinner. "They said to find the Innocence, and that it would be in China."

"So...? That's what I said. Go to China."

"They would rather have us find this Innocence than be in China for no reason. We have reason to believe this girl's in India."

"Yeah but the Black Order has reason to believe she's here in China. Plus, how are they supposed to know where we are?" Emiko crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair.

"I sent out a letter when I first started hearing consistent rumors about the Innocence moving to India." He nodded, glancing down at Emiko's full plate of curry, only her salad finished off. "You should eat something more than just salad, by the way."

"How long ago was that?" She leaned forward, scooping some rice into her mouth.

"About 3 days ago, so they should receive word any day now."

"Shouldn't we wait for them?"

"Nah. We could miss our chances with her."

Shortly after their pit stop, the duo set out once again, making a commitment to walk all night, stopping every hour for a half hour of sleep. From the looks of it the girl harnessing this Innocence moves quickly and very frequently, so Alma and Emiko would need to keep up, if not, one step ahead.

The night moved slowly, each half hour of sleep getting harder and harder to wake up from. If it were not for Alma's internal clock going off, Emiko would have slept through the night like a baby. Finally, they reached the border of India, just as the sun broke through the night's sky.

"We made good timing." Alma was pleased.

"Mhm..." Emiko couldn't help showing her exhaustion, though once again she was left confused as to why the hike didn't faze Alma.

"Let's go find an inn."

"That's the best news I've heard in days." She yawned, stretching her arms.

"From the news, I've gathered from the last town we were in, she likes to act at night, so we'll sleep through most of the day, and then start our journey again once the sun sets."

Emiko nodded, the only thing she could think of was a nice warm bed. It didn't take long for the two to reach the nearest town, then finding the closest inn. Luckily headquarters got their letter in time, and sent funds to each inn in every town on the west side of India.

Alma was the first one awake. Looking over to the other side of the room, he saw Emiko sound asleep, cocooned in her blankets. He sighed, kicking himself for leaving the window open. Shifting off the chair in the corner of the small room, he quickly awoke his partner. With a jolt, she sat up quickly, throwing herself out of bed while still being half asleep.

"...Akuma...! Akuma...!" She muttered as she fell to her knees. "Wha...?"

"Hey, wake up." Alma attempted to catch her as she fell, but only succeeded in landing on the floor with her. "You up?"

"Yeah... How'd I get on the floor?" She rubbed the grogginess from her eyes.

"Well you just jumped out of bed a minute ago, I guess I woke you from quite a dream. You mumbled 'Akuma' twice."

"Oh yeah... I was dreaming that a gigantic Akuma was eating Saya and Yu back at headquarters, but I was here and didn't know."

"Interesting..." Alma pondered the dream for a moment before shrugging it off. "We should get moving."

"Alright... Give me 20 minutes in the bathroom please. I need to bathe."

Agreeing to her 20-minute time limit he waiting patiently for her while inspecting the town from their second-floor window. So far nothing seemed out of place. It irked him that they were constantly one step behind this girl. Every town they were in, she was there a day or two before.

As soon as Emiko finished readying herself, they set out on their trip once more. They'd walk for a few hours before starting to take half an hour naps, though this time it was every two hours. Emiko hated the idea, though Alma pushed for it until she gave in. Her only consequence was that if she were to collapse from exhaustion, he was to carry her until morning. He agreed gladly, convincing himself that sleeping half the amount they did the previous night would help him catch up to the mysterious girl.

"Almaaa..." Emiko whined, noticing herself dragging almost 3 feet behind him. "Can we take a break now? It's probably been two hours..."

He sighed, hearing the pain in her voice. With a nod, he sat down, leaning against a nearby tree. Taking off his coat, he folded it up as a sort of pillow for her.

"Here ya go." He patted the jacket. "You can use it as a pillow if you want."

"...How sweet of you." She smiled, a little taken aback by the gesture.

As fate would have it, as soon as Emiko closed her eyes, she heard voices muttering back and forth. Sneering, she tried to block them out but couldn't help analyzing them. One was male, the other female, and they were definitely arguing.

"Huh." Alma scratched the back of his head. "They sound like Saya and Yu without they're bickering."

Emiko chuckled while snuggling into his coat. "Well that's just silly."

He nodded with a light laugh before hearing what seemed to be a struggle. Both of them hopped to their feet, Emiko taking Alma's coat in her hands. Rushing to the cliff near them where the voices originated from, both gasped as they seen the hoard of Akumas surrounding two people.

"Oh my..." Emiko placed her hand over her mouth while handing Alma's coat back with the other hand.

"They're exorcists..."

"Not just any exorcists... It's Saya and Yu!"

Being reckless wasn't something that suited Emiko. With a quick thought of her childhood flashing through her memory, she took a step back. As a young girl, Saya was always the one protecting her. Jumping in on three bullies at a time to push them away. As they got older, the acts of kindness Saya did grew bigger to the point of tackling armed burglars while they tried robbing Emiko.

With that one step forward, Emiko leaped down the side of the cliff. Alma stood there stunned as he watched her sliding down, her one hand digging into the dirt of the cliff to keep her balance, though he soon followed suit.

"Saya!" Emiko yelled while landing, activating her innocence.

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Sweat stung Saya's eyes as she kept her bow pulled taut as she had her back pressed against Yu's. They were mostly at a stalemate with the Akumas around them. They weren't attacking first and after the first two died the Akumas were becoming more cautious; they were looking for a weakness. Her leg was burning with the weight it was supporting but she let no signs of the pain show outwardly, best to not give the Akuma any opportunities.

"Well…" She huffed as she waited for someone to make a move. "This is pretty boring don'tcha think?"

Yu made a noise. "You never know when to shut up."

"You say that now, but when I stop talking you're going to start wondering what happened to me. I'll bet it'll even freak you out."

"That's what you think…" He answered though there wasn't any heat in his voice.

Saya smirked. "I'm tired of waiting." She murmured as she stared at the Akuma in front of her. "I have an idea that might just get me killed but might actually work too."

"You have got to be joking."

"No, actually this time I'm totally serious, when I tell you to I want you to crouch."

"Why? What are you going to do?"

"Nothing that I want to say where they can hear me, but you'll know when you'll have an opening for an attack…" She smiled though he couldn't see it.

"Fine but you better not get yourself killed."

"I'll try not to." She sighed as she tested her left leg and decided that it wouldn't hold much longer. "Now!" She shouted as she released her grip on her sting, spun around and used her now free hand to leapfrog herself over Yu's body.

"A thousand burning arrows!" Her left knee hit the ground as she grabbed the bowstring and pulled tight before launching a volley of flaming arrows into the Akuma that had been previously in front of Yu, she had stunned them just long enough to hit several of them before Yu launched himself over her.

"First Illusion Kaichu Ichigen." Yu said as he swung his sword and several worm-like spirit creatures rushed the Akumas.

"Volley of freezing arrows." Saya countered as she pivoted herself to face the ones she had been looking at previously and released another rush of arrows. Most hit the ground and formed a small frozen wall giving her enough time to stand and press her back against Yu's again as he moved back to her.

"Did we get any…?" Saya panted as she tried to quell the shaking in her leg.

"Yes… We got one." Yu answered quietly.

"How many does that leave us?"

"Nine…"

"Damn…" She laughed lightly as she leaned into the strength of his back. "I don't think I can do this much longer…"

Just then a female voice caught Saya's attention as she noticed a small female figure skidding down the cliff face. It was Emiko.

"Em! What in the name of the seven hells are you doing here?" Saya shouted as she noticed her friend skidding down the rocks.

"Saving you!" Emiko snapped as her fingernails slid cleanly through the neck of an Akuma who hadn't noticed her until it was too late.

"Geez!" Saya cried as she released a round of arrows into the other Akumas to keep them from attacking Emiko from behind. "At least pay attention to your back!"

Alma joined the fight then as he cleaved another in half and jumped next to Saya and Yu, putting his back against their left side. "It seems you two know where all the fun is" He said with a smile.

Emiko finally joined them on the right as they stared at the last of them. "Well how many is there now?"

"Seven." Yu and Saya answered at the same time.

Emiko blinked. "Seven? Why so many?"

"Because we gave them six different Exorcists to choose from." Yu answered.

"Six?"

"Well there's you, Alma, Yu and me here" Saya answered as she tried to support her own weight; Yu's back pressed into her to help her support her weight more easily. "That also means that the person you were after is here in India and Yu and I were sent after another one here in India. That makes six."

"Let's get this over quickly." Yu growled as he suddenly vanished and attacked an Akuma before him leaving Alma and Emiko to either charge an opponent or just stand there; they attacked.

Saya stood where she was and tried to keep the ones from behind at bay with a constant volley of arrows. She was wearing down. Her body hadn't had enough time to fully recuperate nor had she had enough physical therapy to get back into shape. Her leg ached and her fingers burned from the constant firing of her arrows. She wasn't paying as close attention to her back and sides as she should have when Alma's voice broke her concentration.

"Saya behind you!" He called as the Akuma that started this whole thing teleported behind her.

She turned but she didn't have a chance to try and shoot another volley of arrows into her new opponent and there was no one near enough to save her. She knew she didn't have a chance, she was going to get hit, hard, but just as the Akuma swung his hand to backhand her a blue glowing shield appeared between her and the Akuma; it hissed angrily. Two small girls landed on either side of Saya, one holding what looked like an energy sword and one creating the shield.

"Dear god they're twins!" Saya quipped as she saw the girls. "Komui is so getting in trouble for sending both on the same damn mission."

"You should just sit back and relax while we handle this." The girl holding the sword stated with a cocky attitude. "We're obviously better at this than you are."

Saya sighed as she grabbed the girl's shoulder and dragged her back to her sister and stuck her there. "How about you let the older ones handle this and you can sit there and look pretty." She teased as she took aim at the Akuma that could teleport to and from battle; it disappeared but it didn't faze her.

"Gotcha…" She muttered as she released the tension on the sting of her bow. The arrow soared straight at empty air until suddenly the Akuma appeared from its teleport in time for the arrow to sink into its chest and explode, killing it.

The young one growled and not to be shown up charged head long for another Akuma. Instead of a sword she now held a spear that she threw into the Akuma before she jumped and yanked it completely through its body also killing her target.

"Not bad." Saya answered as she smirked at the girl. "But you left your back wide open, if your sister wasn't here to keep something from attacking you what would you do then?"

"I wouldn't be fighting here because I'd be wherever she was, duh." The girl answered as she walked back to her sister and Saya; Saya sighed.

There were two left now since Yu, Alma and Emiko finally dispatched the one's they were on. Yu had charged one of the remaining two leaving one for the rest of them but Saya didn't care. She swung around and fired several arrows into the Akuma Yu was focusing on. Four frozen arrows stuck out of the Akuma's limbs making him completely immobile and left him open for attack; it didn't last long.

Finally there weren't any left and for a moment everyone just stood there and let the tension ease off them. They took a collective breath before finally moving out of fighting stances. Saya hit the ground, her leg finally just gave out and now she was sitting on the ground as she took deep breaths to quell the urge to start shaking from the strain her body took.

"I don't think I'm getting up again…" She stated as she laughed lightly. "It's just not going to happen."

The quiet one of the twins slowly made her way over to where Saya was sitting, chewing on her thumb. "I think I can help you…" She said in a small voice as she looked at Saya's leg. "I don't think I can fix the scar but I can help the muscle."

Saya smiled. "That would be lovely if you could but don't strain yourself or we'll have to carry two people out of here."

The girl knelt and placed her hands above Saya's leg. At first nothing happened but then a blue light emerged from her palms and sunk into Saya's leg. Saya flinched and then bit her lip.

"That's so weird…" She noted as she watched the girl. "I can feel it."

"That's because I'm healing your Qi." The girl answered.

"You can manipulate Qi? Is that what your Innocence is?"

"My what?" The girl looked up at Saya confused.

"Your Innocence. It's what helped you fight Akuma, the things we were just fighting." Saya informed the girl.

"I guess…" The girl answered as she pulled her hands away from Saya's leg. "There… You should be able to stand on your leg now. It should be able to support you like it used to."

Say stood, putting her weight on her leg gingerly then smiled when it didn't give way. "So…" She started as she turned to the girls. "I know this great place that gives you cool clothing, all the food you'll ever want and a place to sleep in turn for ya'll showing them your Innocence and agreeing to join them. You get to fight all the baddies you want. Why don't you come with us, it'll be fun?"

The cocky girl opened her mouth to decline instantly but her sister looked over at her. A moment passed between them before the first girl sighed and shrugged. "Just as long as none of you get in our way."

Saya smirked. "Man, I know someone who you totally sound like." She muttered as she led the way out of the valley.

Emiko snickered softly as she heard Yu's uncomfortable groan. Saya shot him a playful look before the group then decided to head back to headquarters.

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It seemed as though the time it took to return to headquarters wasn't as long as actually getting to China and India. Everyone rested on the trains and ferries then walked some of the way. A large group of exorcists seemed to gain more respect from civilians then just two.

"This sure is the life!" The one twin smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well don't get too relaxed. You still need to be examined at headquarters." Yu huffed, causing an awkward silence in the group.

Emiko and Alma almost took turns giving each other quick glances before looking out the train's window.

"What's with you two?" Saya arched a brow, breaking that silence.

"What do you mean?" Emiko felt her cheeks flush as she was put on the spot.

"You keep looking at each other." Saya honestly had no idea what was going on between the two. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Alma answered with a smile; Saya shrugged.

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It was almost when they all got back to what they now called home. Both twins passed through the door without fail. To make it easier on the sleeping staff, Saya shared Emiko's room while giving her's up to the twins for the night. There wasn't a big debate on who would be giving up whose room, though Emiko was bound and determined to keep hers. Some territorial instinct in her kicked in out of nowhere, feeling as though her things needed to be left alone.

As soon as the twin's heads hit the pillows, they were out. With such big attitudes, it's hard to believe how young they are. Sharing a bed with Saya again brought back vivid memories to Emiko. With a sigh, she could take the good memories with the bad; the times where they stayed up all night talking, to the times where they were too terrified to go to sleep.

Emiko looked over to her friend and smirked at the way she had fallen asleep. Straight on her back with her arms crossed over her chest, a stern look on her face. Snuggling into her pillow, Emiko wondered what Saya had been dreaming about. Just as soon as her mind wandered, she fell fast asleep with a smile on her face, happy to finally be back in her own bed.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: At the Headquarters**

It was dark when Saya crept from her room. The dark eased her racing mind as she quietly slipped through the halls, down the stairs and into the training room where the moonlight came through the windows on the far wall. Her mind had been running into over time since her time in India when Yu kissed her. She had what felt like a zillion questions for him but he had successfully avoided being alone with her for longer than thirty seconds and it was driving her crazy. Finally she was unable to take it any longer and had come down into the training room to get her mind off of it all for a few moments.

She wasn't sleeping well either. The nightmares were back in full force and she had no idea how to deal with them. Before now when she had dreams of her village she would just tough it up and move on, but after her near death and her break down in front of Yu she hadn't been able to soldier on alone anymore. So, she was down in the training room with the hope that if she wore herself out physically she would be able to sleep without dreams.

She began with archery. It was something she was good at and something that required her full attention. She wouldn't be able to think about anything else with bow in hand as she aimed for the small center ring painted onto the target before her. The target wasn't far so hitting the center was almost too simple so she began to make it harder. She used more than one arrow at a time, running back and forth as she aimed at the target then she finally started backing up and running at the target before shooting at it. After a while she gave up trying to use archery to wear herself out.

Sighing she cleaned up the archery range, pulling arrows out of the target and unstringing the bow before putting everything away as it had been before. Turning she inspected the room for something else she could do and her eyes fell on the small track. It wasn't large, maybe a quarter mile from start to finish, but it would help increase her endurance and she was in desperate need of that now that her leg was completely healed. She started slow, just a light jog until she came all the way around then she began to pick up the pace. By the time she made her way around the track for the mile she was coming up on a well-paced run. She kept that pace as she went around and around and around, speeding up ever so slightly as she hit the next mile. It was a pace she could keep for long distances and she was striving to increase the length of time she could keep running; part of her felt like she was running from the nightmares.

Finally, she had enough with the running. She didn't like the idea that part of her felt like she was just running away from her nightmares so she wasn't going to do that anymore. Instead she found where the training dummies were, picked one, and set to work at close quarters combat. If she was going to be fighting away the nightmares she was going to do so head on and not running away. She was so focused on her practice on the dummy that when the sound to her right caught her attention instead of checking to see who it was she threw a punch instead.

"Is this how you greet everyone…?" Yu questioned as he caught her hand in midflight.

"Only people who think it's fun to sneak up on me." Saya answered as she stood there with her fist against his palm. "Why are you here? I thought you were trying to avoid me for the last few days."

Yu made a noncommittal noise as he moved away from her and down into one of the pits. "If you want me to answer your questions you'll have to beat me."

Saya growled as she clenched her hands into fists. "You are so dead…" She slid into the pit Yu was standing in and caught the training sword he tossed at her. She gave it a once over then dropped it and slid back into a fighting stance. "I'll win with my fists thank you…"

"Suit yourself…" Yu sighed as he readied his kendo sword.

They stood there staring at each other for a long moment as they assessed the other's strengths and weaknesses. Finally Saya charged, keeping low and watching Yu's movements intently. He moved and she dodged the swing of the wooden blade; it missed her by inches. Another swing and Saya rolled to the side to get out of the way then finally she jumped and landed on Yu's sword.

"Check." Saya said with a smile as Yu glared at her and jerked the sword around. She was sent flying into the sand when his foot connected with her stomach.

"I wouldn't call that a check." Yu said with a smirk.

Saya pushed to her feet before she charged at Yu again. This time she rolled forward, pushed to her feet and leapt over her opponent. She landed behind him and spun around quickly before he had a chance to move, placing her fingers against his back. "Check Mate. If I had a hidden blade anywhere on me you would be dead right now."

Yu huffed as he turned around slowly. "Fine," he said. "You win."

"You didn't even try." Saya noted as she moved back. "Did you want me to win?"

"Fighting you is useless." Yu answered as he crossed his arms over his chest. "So ask your questions if it will give you peace of mind."

Saya blinked as she tried to comprehend what he had just said to her. Pursing her lips she decided just to go ahead and ask. "How do you feel about me? I mean one moment you absolutely hate my guts and then you go and save me and kiss me."

"You actually kissed me."

"You kissed me back!" Saya snapped as she clenched her fists again. "I don't understand how you feel about me. One moment you hate me then the next you're kissing me and now you won't even be in the same room with me. I don't know what to think or how to act around you. One moment you're nice and helping me when I had the nightmares and then the next you're chewing me out for being too slow. And when I tried to ask you about it you ignored me completely and didn't want to be in the same room as me. Now I can't deal with the nightmares all because you cared enough for one night to let me cry about it. I don't get people to take care of me and now I don't know what to do about all of this!" Saya stopped as she realized she went off more than she had meant to.

Yu stared at her with a smirk playing on his lips as he listened to her rant. "Feel better?"

"No I don't actually." Saya answered moodily. "I still don't have an answer."

"I don't know how to give you one." Yu answered which had Saya gaping at him.

"What do you mean…?"

"I honestly don't know." Yu said as he turned and walked away from her.

"That doesn't help me." Saya huffed as she followed him. She stumbled for a moment and shook her head as she tried to clear the fog of exhaustion that suddenly hit her.

"Tired?" Yu asked as he looked at her over his shoulder.

"I guess. I don't remember how long I've been down here. I haven't slept tonight."

"Why not?" Yu leaned against a wall and watched her.

"My nightmares are back…" Saya answered as she sat down against the wall next to him. "The memories of my village and the burning house…"

"Your village…?" Yu asked as he sat down beside Saya.

"Yeah…" Saya sighed as she leaned her head against the wall. "Emiko and my village was attacked by a horde of Akumas… I was able to rescue Emiko and we were hiding in a cellar under a house in the village… Emiko never saw the attack, I kept her from watching any of it, but I saw it all… I saw people massacred in front of my eyes. It was brutal and bloody and I watched it all. We were almost caught, Emiko had made some noise and an Akuma had heard it, but someone decided to try and make a run for it and the Akuma caught him… I thank God every day for that man's death. He saved our lives with his death. We were seven… At night, we escaped to the docks and got on a boat that took us to China, after that we traveled all over the world, not staying in one place because I was worried they would find us… Ever since that night I've had nightmare of that night. Watching people slaughtered right in front of my eyes. But I couldn't let Emiko know so I struggled through them and kept my mouth closed that is until you heard me. Now I don't know how to deal with them anymore and it scares me."

Yu sat there listening to Saya as she revealed the truth about what happened to her and Emiko. It amazed him that at such a young age Saya had watched an entire village be slaughtered before her eyes and hadn't completely lost her mind. They sat there in silence before he finally draped his arm around her shoulders and moved her head against him.

Saya blushed but leaned in against him and for the first time in a long time she fell asleep instantly.

"Yu…?" Alma asked as he walked into the room. "Is that Saya?"

"She fell asleep."

Alma pursed his lips. "Well I can take her upstairs for you."

Yu stiffened for a moment, he didn't want anyone else touching her but he didn't want anyone knowing he had any feelings for her so he finally consented. "Sure, that would make life much easier."

Alma bent down and carefully scooped Saya up. "I'll be back in a moment for our training."

"Alright…" Yu sighed as he stood up and turned away from Alma. He was struggling with his urge to take Saya back.

Alma shrugged slightly then carried Saya back to her room.

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The sound of Emiko's door slowly sliding open caused her to flinch, sitting straight up before fully waking up. Rubbing her eyes, she stared at the tall figure standing in her door way. Still groggy, her vision was blurry, though she slowly adjusted.

"...Alma...?" Emiko's voice was hoarse as she strained to see the figure in the dark.

"Hey, you're up..." Alma responded as he shifted around the dark frame in his arms. "I was trying not to wake you."

Alma moved past the doorway, letting the early morning's light, which crept through the curtains expose what was in his arms. Saya cuddled his chest as she struggled to will away the nightmares that plagued her.

"She fell asleep down in the training room." Alma smiled softly while moving Saya to the bed.

Emiko sat up to take in her surroundings, giving a soft yawn and stretch as she did so.

"You were in the training room with her?" Emiko muttered to Alma as she shifted with the uncomfortable question.

"Hm?" He arched a brow. "Oh, no… I just happened to walk in and she was asleep next to Yu."

"Oh…" She smiled to herself, giving a faint sigh of relief. "That's kinda funny she fell asleep next to him…"

"Mhm." He smiled with a nod before turning to walk out. "I'll let you get back to sleep."

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"Emiko…!" Saya groaned as she sat, Indian style on the bed. "Get up!"

"Nnn…" Emiko mumbled incoherently while rolling away from her friend.

"C'mon! Emikoooo" She then proceeded to gently shake Emiko's shoulder.

"Okay, Alma…" Emiko stretched while pulling the blanket over her head. "Just 5 more minutes…"

"…Alma?" Saya's lips pulled into a devious grin. "Dreaming of Alma, are we?"

Emiko fell silent, falling into a quick deep sleep. With a faint smile she snuggled into her pillows, never feeling Saya shifting off the bed.

"Okay, Em!" Saya leaned down to position herself to be face to face with Emiko. "If you're not awake in two seconds, I'm gonna go get Alma…" Emiko's eyes shot open. "…then rip the blanket off you so he can see what you sleep in."

"No, wait!" Emiko leaped out of bed, fixing the small pair of shorts and tank top. "You don't have to be so pushy."

Saya smiled in satisfaction before playing into Emiko's irritation.

"Aw, don't be like that." The smile remained on her face. "The morning's half over already."

"Half over to you is 8 am…" Emiko reached the bathroom, stopping in the doorway. "I happen to enjoy sleep, and now I'm going to enjoy a quick bath."

Saya shrugged before smirking, leaving the bedroom to hurry down to the training room for a rematch with Yu. Him letting her win still bothered her, and now with a full night's sleep under her belt, she wouldn't let him live it down.

Emiko on the other hand, planned on staying in the tub until the thoughts of Alma washed away. It seemed her affection for him grew enormously, and though she didn't notice him fighting her off, she felt as though other things mattered more than her silly little crush, though she had begun to wonder if it was just a silly crush, or something more.

It seemed as though an hour had passed before let the water drain from the tub. Wrapping a towel around her, she pulled the bathroom door open. With a gasp, her face turned a bright red as she seen Alma sitting on her bed, staring back at her with the same shocked expression.

"I uh…" He cleared his throat, quickly looking away from her. "…Well I was gonna see if you wanted to go get some breakfast... It seems Saya and Yu are busy taking over the training room…"

"Umm, sure…" Emiko sighed with a soft smile as she hugged her towel close to her. "I just need to get dressed."

"Oh, right." He nodded before glancing at her. "I'll wait outside."

As soon as Alma had left the room, Emiko dried off and got dressed in a flash. Though she wasn't use to being so underdressed, she figured a black skirt, a dark red shirt, and her hair up in a ponytail would be appropriate. Opening the door, she could almost see the gasp escape his lips.

"You look nice…" He smiled to her while leading her down the stairs.

"Thank you." She blushed.

A long silence passed between the two, both slowing their pace down the stairs until Alma stopped completely. Not realizing it at first, Emiko stopped two steps in front of him. Pausing for a moment, she slowly turned around to see him nervously looking away from her.

"So, I wanted to talk to you…" He broke their silence. "About that boat ride…"

Emiko remained silent, though her heart nearly sank. That minute they shared where they had nearly kissed, she held dear to her. Without that moment, she would feel as though her feelings were completely one sided.

"Okay…?" Emiko finally spoke, feeling as though hours had passed since he brought up the boat, though she could tell he was pondering what to say next.

"So… The captain kinda interrupted something from happening between us…" Alma tried looking Emiko in the eye, though failed. As his cheeks reddened, he found comfort in studying the fabric of the carpet on the stairs. "I don't know…if that 'something' should have happened…"

"I see…" Emiko could feel a lump forming in her throat. "And why do you assume that?"

"I guess I'll just be honest with you…" He sighed, sitting on the step behind him.

Shifting her feet, Emiko moved one to the step behind her. If he truly had regrets, she was preparing herself to run.

"You're just so…" He sighed, stopping himself to find the right words. "I don't even know how to say it…"

"Just say it, Alma." As the words left her mouth she could feel her hands beginning to sweat, her heart beginning to beat faster, and her cheeks beginning to burn.

"I can't stay being away from you…" He finally looked up to her, locking his eyes with hers. "What happened on the boat… I can't get it out of my head."

Emiko took a step back to prevent her from falling down the stairs in shock. Many different questions raced through her head, though she couldn't bring herself to say any of them. Staying silent, she merely stared at him, feeling completely and utterly stupid.

"I can understand if you don't feel the same…" He sighed, though faking a small smile.

"Alma…" Emiko forced the words through her lips. "…That's how I've felt since I met you…"

With an impulsive rush flowing through him, Alma pulled himself off the steps, and stepped toward Emiko. Both paused for a moment before wrapping their arms around each other. Emiko buried her head into his chest, feeling him resting his head-on top of hers.

"Well this is unexpected…" Saya smirked from down the stairs.

"Get a room." Yu sneered, pushing past them, though the two never batted an eyelash.

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Saya flopped onto her own bed in her own room and sighed with content. She had missed her own bed. The twins had been moved to their own rooms earlier that afternoon. Her body ached from the double training she had today and it took her a moment before she could pull herself off the bed and wander off into her bathroom. She filled the tub with hot, steaming water before she peeled off her clothing and sunk into the relaxing water. She lay there for a long moment, letting the warm water wash away the aches in her body. She had lost to Yu during their rematch but it hadn't surprised her. She wasn't as strong as him, hadn't been fighting like him for as long. She was use to fighting dirty, using her small size and the elements around her to win whatever fight she was in, but that was not how Yu fought as she had tried to win on his terms.

Finally she slid under the water and scrubbed her hair clean before emerging and draining the tub of the cooling water. She dried herself off vigorously then wrapped a towel around her body and went to door; stopping before she opened. "Get out of my room." She called through the door.

"Humph…" Came the reply and she knew it was Yu. "I was told to fetch you for Komui. Alma and Emiko are already in his office."

"Well I'm not coming out until you leave the room." Saya answered.

"I'm not leaving until I can drag you to his office." Yu snapped.

Saya sighed and put her forehead against the door before giving up. "Fine…" She muttered. "Just grab the bundle of clothing on the bed and hand it to me when I crack open the door."

Yu obliged surprisingly and handed her the clothing without another word. She dressed quickly in her uniform since she was certain they were off to another mission. Sighing she fluffed her hair and was satisfied when she could tuck it behind her ears without problem, it was getting longer. She grinned at her reflection and knew that Emiko would be excited that she was letting it grow out instead of just chopping it all off with some random sharp object. Finally she walked out of her bathroom.

"Let's go." She stated as she walked past Yu and out of her room.

They walked in silence, winding up and down several staircases then through hallways and finally into Komui's office in the back of the science department. Saya took in the messy surroundings as she tried to find where Komui's desk should have been and where the piles of papers started; Komui cleared his throat.

"Good you're all here." He started as he shuffled some papers again. "I know you four just returned from your missions, but you are the only ones we have at headquarters who are cleared for missions and so we need you to go immediately."

"As in all four of us are going on one mission?" Saya asked as she cocked her head to one side.

"No, no." Komui said with a wave of his hand. "I have two missions that need attention-"

"I'll go with Alma!" Emiko blurted out before she blushed scarlet and covered her mouth; Saya stared at her, eyes wide, with a wide grin.

"I'm all for that." Saya answered as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at her longtime friend. "I have no qualms with her going with Alma."

"Actually, I was going to have you go with Alma Saya…" Komui stated as he looked at his paperwork. "It would be better suited with you two."

"Emiko is a good fighter and is better with people than I am. She should go with Alma."

"That's why I'm splitting them up. Both teams need someone that's good with people."

Saya pursed her lips as she tried to figure out a way around this. "I don't trust Alma."

Alma and Emiko gaped at Saya but she ignored them.

"I think it would be best to stick Emiko with Alma because she obviously trusts him with her back whereas I don't know if I fully trust Alma to have my back in a fight. While I know Yu will have it because I've fought with him."

"You honestly don't trust Alma?" Emiko quipped as her eyes watered but the look in Saya's eyes shut her up before she said anything more.

Finally Komui sighed and gave in. "Fine, fine. Just be quick about this mission. We have another one that will need a larger group."

Saya smiled and nearly skipped from the room causing Emiko to rush to catch up with her.

"You really don't like him…?" Emiko asked in a small voice.

"You know I totally lied, right? I can obviously tell you wanted to go with him so why not make it easier to set that up? I do trust him or I wouldn't let you go with him, duh."

Emiko smiled and hugged her friend before she ran off to join Alma in preparations for their mission.

"I don't understand you…" Yu commented as he walked ahead of Saya.

"Yeah well…" Saya smirked. "I don't understand you either."


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: A Dream and a General**

Night hit, and the full moon illuminated the small room. Emiko stood by the window, staring out at the small village below her. The poor farming village stirred memories of a life once lived, as she looked down at her soft, fragile hands. Never had her hands experienced the callus of hard work, or the dirt stained poverty of these villagers. Even in her fearful nights with Saya, she was always well taken care of. Saya made sure to give her the best she could. With a sigh, Emiko reached up to the tattered, almost transparent curtains to pull closed.

"It's getting late…" A soft voice broke Emiko's train of thought. "We need to leave pretty early if we want to get to that Innocence in time."

"Yeah…" Emiko turned around to offer Alma a small smile before making her way to the twin sized bed off in the corner of the room.

As Emiko made her way to the bed, Alma passed her, reaching the rocking chair in the opposite corner, overlooking the village. Emiko had already dressed for bed; all that was left was to pull the hair tie from her long ebony locks. After doing so, she slid in bed, curling into the pillow and pulling the blanket up to her chin.

The rocking chair creaked slightly as Alma's weight curling up in the chair pulled the chair back. Shifting, he tried to find that comfortable spot, but in a wooden chair it was tough. Emiko watched him shift back and forth relentlessly, never once making an uncomfortable noise.

"Did you want my pillow?" Emiko couldn't stand to watch him shift back and forth one more time.

"No, I'm fine." He turned back to smile at her before stretching his legs out to prop his feet in the windowsill.

"Did you need a blanket, then?" Emiko felt selfish for taking the only bed, pillow, and blanket in the room but Alma insisted she take them.

"No thank you." He smiled once more, looking to Emiko in the reflection of the window.

Alma's head dropped slowly as he drifted off to sleep though Emiko's eyes stayed wide open. It seemed, as though hours had raced through the night, never once did Emiko blink. The night felt odd, in a sense that it had been too quiet in the village below. What was also odd was every house had been raised at least ten feet on stilts due to supposed flooding, though the land looked bone dry.

Losing herself to the debate in her head about why the land had been so dry, she flinched in spite of herself as Alma snored softly for a moment before waking himself up. Pulling his feet down, he stretched before shivering.

"…Cold?" Emiko laughed lightly.

"Oh..." He turned around. "I didn't know you were awake."

"Yeah… I can't seem to fall asleep."

"Oh. Well… We need to get going soon so hopefully you'll sleep."

"What about you?"

"What do you mean?" Alma leaned against the arm of the chair.

"You need a good night's rest too… How can you sleep in that chair?"

"It's pretty tough." He smirked.

"You wanna take turns with the bed?"

"Nah, I wouldn't wish sleeping in a chair on anyone." He laughed while turning back around.

"Well…" Emiko paused for a moment before the small impulsive side of her took over. "We could always share the bed."

Alma raised a brow as he turned back around to see her confused face. Emiko had no idea why she said that, but looked back to him to back up what she said.

"Well, I don't know…" Alma pondered the thought.

"Well it's not like we'd be doing anything." She sat up just enough to rest her head in her hand, her elbow on the bed.

"If you're okay with it." He smiled softly for a moment before walking over to the bed. "Which way should I lay?"

"Whichever way you'd like, but I personally don't like feet in my face." Emiko moved back against the wall with a smirk.

Alma couldn't help but blush as he moved under the blankets, trying to avoid eye contact as they both lay facing each other. He rolled over quickly before they could share any kind of look, feeling like this should stay as professional as possible, though his heart pounded with each passing second. Letting out a long sigh, he cuddled into the soft pillow, a good few minutes passing before he felt Emiko pulling up on the blanket. Each movement she made startled him, as if at any minute she was going to start screaming that he wasn't welcome in the bed anymore.

His eyelids slowly fell shut, his breathing becoming more relaxed, and suddenly he felt weightless. Everything around him seemed to cease to exist. The soft touch of a small hand on his back seemed to pull him back to reality. His eyes shot open as he realized that small hand was Emiko's, still awake. Slightly looking over his shoulder, they made eye contact, and she smiled a half smile. Breaking that gaze, she inched closer to him, nuzzling his back. Nothing else seemed to matter except for that one moment. Alma felt, smelled…perfect. Emiko's cheeks burned as her heart raced, almost skipping a beat as she watched him turn over to face her. Unable to move her body, she bit her lower lip as he grabbed her hand, bringing it up to rest on the pillow. She couldn't help but smirk at him still wearing his gloves. Pulling his gloves off, she laced her fingers through his, feeling his warmth.

Once again, the two went on to avoid eye contact, though it didn't last long. Alma inched closer, pulling Emiko into his chest, laying his head against hers.

"I love you, Emiko…" He whispered softly.

"You say my name so sweetly…" She smiled, feeling the redness returning to her cheeks. "Will you say it again?"

"Emiko…"

"…Again…"

"Emiko…"

"Say it again…"

"Emiko…!"

"…Again…"

"…Emiko…!" The voice soon became louder, Emiko's surroundings feeling as though they were slipping away from her. "Hello? Wake up!"

Emiko's eyes slid open, though shut tightly as the morning's light pierced them. Sitting up, she rubbed them tightly before looking to see who owned the voice that brought her from her dream. Blinking a few times, she looked to meet the eyes of none other than Alma. With a gasp, her eyes shot open before she screamed, pulling the blanket up to cover her nightgown.

"What are you doing in here?" She screamed.

"We have another mission." Alma turned around to give her any privacy he could. "I guess I should have knocked harder…"

"You think?" Completely embarrassed, she hid under the blanket, kicking herself for coming up with such a vivid dream.

"Why did you want me to keep saying your name, anyway?"

Emiko groaned while curling into a tight ball, pulling the blanket tight around her.

It didn't take Emiko to ready herself for the day. Complete with her slick black uniform, and high ponytail. By the time she went to look for Alma, he was nowhere to be found, so with a slight shrug of a shoulder she made her way down to the training room. If he wasn't there, there would have at least been a few people who would have known where he was at.

"Hey Em!" Saya greeted as Emiko walked through the doorway to the training room. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"I'm just looking for Alma." Emiko smiled a greeting to her friend. "Have you seen him?"

"Yeah I think he's over there with Yu." Saya reached her hand into the wooden bin holding bows.

"Gotcha." Emiko jogged through the training room, getting the eye from various people who she unintentionally interrupted from their routines. Upon reaching a small sand pit in the far corner of the training room, Emiko watched Yu and Alma go toe to toe.

Yu seemed particularly fond of hand-to-hand combat, and so both opponents readied their stance before charging at one another. Yu dodged with a quick leap, using his strong legs as his advantage though it didn't faze Alma. Almost as soon as Yu took flight, as if Alma could read his movements before it happened, Alma fell to his knees, sliding past the now irritated Yu.

"That was just luck." Yu smirked as he landed, facing Alma.

"Nah, it was just predictable." Alma grinned, still kneeling.

Yu took a step toward him, narrowing his eyes as Alma shifted his feet, leaning back as Alma's foot swung up to meet his chin.

"Nice try." Yu smirked.

"Excuse me…?" Emiko tried to interrupt as politely as she could.

Yu couldn't help but roll his eyes with a sneer as she did so, though Alma didn't seem to mind. With a smile, he approached her while dabbing at any sweat forming on his forehead.

"Perfect timing, Emiko!" Alma chuckled as the two walked toward the exit.

"You were talking about a mission this morning?" Emiko was beginning to feel silly in her uniform, noticing that he was wearing casual clothes.

"Yep. Basically, we need to go bring a couple generals back to Headquarters." Alma stated plainly.

"What for?" She arched a brow.

"It's a long story. I'll explain it later, but basically, we have a list of generals in the same vicinity that we need to go bring back here. Some of these generals probably won't recognize me, and they for sure won't know you."

"Why's that? Has it been that long since they've been here?"

"Some Exorcists don't consider this to be home like other Exorcists do." Alma held the exit door for Emiko to pass through. "They'll come in every once in a while, but will rarely actually sleep here."

"Ah, I see…" Emiko shrugged it off, finding it a little odd that all generals needed to be rounded up, though she trusted Alma to explain things in due time.

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Before midday's slow sunset, the couple set out on their journey. After a few miles of hiking to the train station, they settled in, sitting opposite each other on the benches. The small train rocked side to side ever so slightly as it began to set off, giving Emiko motion sickness.

"You going to be alright?" Alma smirked as Emiko leaned against the window, resting her forehead against the windowsill.

"Yeah…" She pawed at the window, pushing it open. "Just need some fresh air."

Alma smiled sweetly as he tried to look away from his friend, who seemed to be quite miserable. Though he wanted nothing more than to scoop her up, trying to make her feel better, he thought it would be best to let her come to him. Sighing, he flagged an attendant down for a bottle of water.

Water seemed to have done the trick, as Emiko's color returned to her cheeks. Propped up against the sill still, Emiko gazed out the window. For such little motion on the train, she had a hard time focusing on anything due to the speed of the vast machine.

"You look much better." Alma caught her attention, breaking the silence as he smiled at her.

"Thank you." She glanced at him, quickly looking back as she caught his smile.

"So…" Alma looked around the small booth, trying to start up a conversation, though it fell flat. Something seemed to be bothering Emiko, though Alma couldn't find the right words to express his concern.

"I've never been on a train before, until the last mission…" Emiko spoke just above a whisper as if she were talking to herself, though it was clear enough for Alma to hear.

"You and Saya never traveled by train?" Alma watched her facial expression change to a more surprised look for a moment, not realizing she had spoken out loud.

"Not on a train like this." She smiled for a second before shifting to sit straight up. "We use to sneak onto cargo trains and hide in between boxes to travel."

"That's interesting…" Alma arched a brow as he left it open for Emiko to continue."

"Yeah, I remember one time we were almost caught…" Emiko laughed slightly as thought about the situation. "We were like 12. I was so scared, as soon as someone came into the car to inspect it, I almost screamed but Saya managed to throw a small stone behind the guy, landing it outside. He got distracted and left."

"That sounds pretty lucky…" It hit Alma that he only knew the current Emiko, and not the trials she had lived through growing up. "Tell me more?"

"Nothing else happened…" Emiko shrugged. "The guy shut the door and we ended up falling asleep."

"I mean was there ever anything else that happened in your life?" Alma struggled to find the right words.

"Well of course." Emiko paused to think about anything. "The only thing coming to mind was the destruction of my village."

"Oh…" Alma narrowed his eyes ever so slightly while studying Emiko's expression. Her village didn't seem to be a sore spot, even though she had lost everything and everyone. "Well… How did you and Saya meet then?"

"Hmm… Well, we were probably about 8 or so." Emiko thought back, cocking her head to the left as she looked toward the ceiling in thought. "I came from a wealthy family; my parents did some sort of business with the farmers in town. I'm not exactly sure what they did; they wouldn't talk about it around me because I was so young." She paused, smiling softly to herself for a quick second before continuing. "Well, because my parents were paranoid, for lack of better terms, I was rarely taken out of the house. I'm sure half the villagers didn't even know I existed."

"That must have been lonely."

"It was. But I didn't know loneliness was what I was feeling, because I thought all kids were treated that way. I remember my parents took me some place; it was like a little festival or some sort of celebration. That's where I met Saya. I remember it as if it were yesterday… She was standing by herself, eating something on a stick, with holes in her pants and a loose black shirt on. Her hair was longer than it is now, but only because her parents were tired of people calling her a little boy, or so she said."

"So, she came from a farming family?" Alma chuckled for a moment before leaning his elbows against his knees to hear the rest of Emiko's story.

"M'hm." Emiko nodded. "I kept staring at her because I was confused about the thing she was eating. She came up to me and asked if I had a staring problem, then ended up sharing her food with me. It was so good, too. I've never tasted anything like it since then. It was really sweet and melted as soon as my tongue touched it. After that, we tried spending every minute together. Something happened between our parents before my parents forbid me from seeing her. I think it had something to do with her parent's farming land that my parents wanted, or something along those lines. Anyway, we found ways around that. Saya use to sneak up this tree next to my window and we'd either hang out in my room or sneak out until dawn."

"So you guys have always been close…" Alma asked in rhetoric as he smiled.

"Yep, I actually thought I had a crush on her at first, but that was only because of how sheltered I was. I had no idea what to do with the feelings I had, since I had never felt them before. I never knew what longing was since the only people I knew were my parents and at least one of them was home at all times to watch me."

"You had a crush on Saya?" Alma teased.

"Well, no. At least I know now I didn't." Emiko stuck her tongue out at Alma. "She was my first and only real friend, and soon became more like a sister. Plus, after the night of the attack, we had an unbreakable bond."

"I can't imagine watching everyone I knew…" Alma stopped himself, realizing how insensitive his thought would have been if he finished.

"It was horrible. Saya ended up saving my life, actually."

"Really…?"

"Mhm." She nodded. "Some miscommunication happened between us and it lead to our first fight. I went to her house to give her a piece of my mind, when the attack happened. A single man lead a small army of what I know now to be Akuma, ruthlessly murdering everyone. The only thing I remember seeing was when the two of us were standing outside her house yelling at each other, when an Akuma came out of nowhere and lobbed some man's head off, his wife begging and pleading for her life. After that Saya dragged me into her house and under some loose floorboards in her house until dawn…" The look on Emiko's face changed dramatically as if she wore the expression of a tired old woman. The small amount of years Emiko lived seemed to hold an eternity in them. "I really don't know what I would have done without Saya… She risked her life to sneak out of the flooring every time it was quiet to make sure the coast was clear. I owe her a lot, though she won't accept anything from me…"

Alma nodded, taking in all that she had said. Swiftly he moved from the one bench to the one Emiko had occupied, sliding to sit close to her. Emiko blushed in spite of herself, cursing her fair skin. Staying quiet, Alma waiting for Emiko to continue, though she didn't without some encouragement. Soon the conversation went from Emiko's past, to the present, to the future, to the 'what ifs', causing the train ride to fly by.

Coming to a screeching halt, the passengers flooded the tiny isle way, leaving the duo no choice but to stand and wait for an opening. Alma was a little quicker than Emiko when it came to noticing the small gap between people, grabbing her hand and pulling her with him into the aisle. Squeezing Alma's hand, Emiko stood close enough behind him to where she could feel his jacket against her, trying to avoid the pushing from the person behind her, but to no avail. Alma held her hand tight, leading her off the train.

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Half the day had passed before the duo reached a town next to their destination point. Emiko heaved a big sigh before pulling on Alma's hand to grab his attention.

"Can we rest for the night?" She stated plainly, trying to mask her exhaustion behind a strong front. "Who knows what we'll get into with this general…? We might need our rest."

"Yeah, that's true." Alma quickly debated the pros and cons in his head before scanning the area for an Inn. "We could stay there for the night."

Emiko smiled as he gestured to the small cottage like Inn before gasping. It was high on stilts, exactly like the Inn in her dream from a few nights previous. Shaking the thought from her head, she pressed on, pulling Alma toward their home for the night.

"This place sure looks cozy…" Emiko gaped as they walked through the front door, noticing the couch in the lobby, facing a warm fireplace.

Alma nodded before walking over to the front desk, checking in for a room for the night. Emiko sat on the couch, propping her feet up on the coffee table in front of her with a relaxed sigh. The slight heel in her boots usually lead to discomfort after hours of walking.

"Rooms ready, Em." Alma waved to gather his partner's attention, though noticed her unresponsive on the couch. With a half-smile, he approached to find her sleeping. "Exhausted...?" He sat down to nudge her.

"Mmn..." Emiko groaned while turning her head to face him. "Yes, very..."

"Let's get you up to our room, then." Alma grabbed her hand, helping her to her feet.

The night moved slowly, though Emiko spent the whole night sleeping while Alma kept careful watch over his partner and their room before finally passing out in the chair. Emiko slept hard, thought Alma tossed and turned in the chair. Something felt off; he felt more anxious then usually about the events tomorrow held. Perhaps it was the increasing feelings for his partner that spurred the recurring anxiety attacks throughout the night. Each hour, he had opened his eyes, looking out to see the moon to judge how long he had been asleep.

"Damn..." Alma sighed as he looked at the twinkling stars. "Not morning yet..."

Shifting in the chair he contemplated sneaking in bed next to Emiko for more comfort, though deep down he knew comfort had nothing to do with his sleepless night. He had slept in far worse situations, though this was the first he had developed strong feelings for his companion. One thought had led to another, and before he knew it, it seemed as if he had come to terms with how he felt. As if he had already decided to bear all to Emiko. Before he knew it, morning had come, and so did the warmth of the sun.

"Alma...?" Emiko laid her hand on his shoulder to alert his attention.

Alma jarred awake stunned that he slept the rest of the night. With a shocked expression, he looked up to find Emiko standing next to him.

"Oh... Hey." He muttered while leaning forward to rub his eyes.

"We should probably get going." She gestured to the door as she walked away.

"Yeah..." He quickly followed suit.

Several minutes flew by without a word between the two. Alma tried several times to strike up a conversation, but came up short. Anything he ran through his mind sounded almost silly. Lost in thought, he hadn't realized Emiko had led him the whole way there without question. With a smirk, he had underestimated her.

"I think we're here…" Emiko pulled a folded-up map from her coat pocket, unfolding it to double check.

"Looks like it." He nodded with a smile, though their visit didn't last long.

Almost as soon as the two took that sigh of relaxation, a loud explosion echoed from across the vast town. Emiko and Alma stood alert, both snapping their heads to the origin of the noise.

"I wonder what that was…" Emiko pondered.

"Probably the general we're here to see. Looks like someone got here first." Alma narrowed his eyes as they both started running in the direction of the explosion.

With one turn came another, one after another, from street rounded to street. Another explosion gave them guidance through the maze of tall trees and closely built houses, before black smoke billowed from a small shack a few streets over.

"That way!" Alma pointed to the left of them as they both detoured to the left, around a house before coming to a halt, standing before a large creature holding a blond woman dressed in black by the throat.

"Oh no!" Emiko gasped as she began to activate her Innocence.

"That's our general." Alma declared. "Klaud Nine."

Lunging toward the large creature, Emiko clung to its back, only to hear it roar as it swung its arms back and forth in attempts at release himself.

"Get off Exorciiiiiiiist!" The Akuma roared, throwing Klaud to the ground as Alma rushing over to her.

"Not until you're dead." Emiko whispered while rearing back her right hand, her long fingernails reflecting the sun's golden rays with the intentions of taking the creature's head off. As her hand gave one swoops to do so, the creature moved just slightly, only 3 out of the 5 fingers piercing through the Akuma's neck.

"Emiko!" Alma shouted as he helped Klaud to her feet. "Assistance?"

She merely shook her head before pulling her long steel like nails from the Akuma's neck while it tried once more to pull her off. With a split-second thought, she allowed the creature to grab her by the back of the coat collar, pulling her in front of it with a cocky grin.

"Not as good as you thought, eh?" It cackled.

The laughter didn't last long before Emiko shot both hands out in front of her, both slicing straight through the creature's neck, her nails sticking out the backside. Emiko held her hands there for a moment, staring into the Akuma's dead eyes. Unsure if it had just been injured or if it was really dead, she twisted both wrists, her razor-sharp nails taking out two holes in its neck. Pulling her hands back, she kicked it as she did a quick flip backwards; the Akuma falling flat on its back.

"I think that's taken care of…" Emiko sneered as she looked at the mess made on her hands. "I don't think I'll ever get use to anything under my nails…"

"That was incredible, Emiko!" Alma exclaimed as ran over to her. "I didn't think you had it in you to take down an Akuma of that size."

"Yeah… I don't know what came over me." She smiled sheepishly before looking to see General Klaud approach the two.

"I can't thank you enough…" She nodded to Emiko. "You took that creature out swiftly."

"Oh, it's okay." Emiko brushed her hands off to outstretch one. "I'm Emiko."

"Klaud Nine." She responded while grasping Emiko's hand, shaking it gently.

"We've come here specifically to see you, General." Alma added to the greeting. "Komui has gathered some alarming news, and needs all generals back at headquarters to discuss it."

"I see…" Klaud crossed her arms over her chest to ponder what the trouble could be, her golden gauntlets weighing heavily against each other. "We'd better head out then."

"Right." Alma nodded with a smile. "

Emiko smiled briefly as she followed closely behind Alma and Klaud, while he briefed her on any details about the current situation. Emiko couldn't help but envy one of Alma's strong points, as she felt completely useless to the issue at hand. She hadn't even received that kind of explanation before going out on this mission with her partner. With a sigh, she pushed any negative thoughts from her mind.

"And what do you make of this?" Klaud looked over her shoulder at Emiko.

"Huh...?" Emiko couldn't help but to have been taken off guard. "I honestly don't really know what Komui has found out."

"Hmm…" Klaud pondered a thought as she ran her gauntlet-coated fingers through her blond hair.

Alma led the way back to the train station, the trip seemingly shorter than the first time around. Emiko wrote it off as them being more entertained with the temporary addition to their team. Once on the train, all three relaxed while taking turns with power naps. Emiko couldn't help but notice how oddly Klaud slept, almost as if she were sitting there, alert, with her eyes shut. With a shrug, she figured it had to be due to years of working as a general, in constant danger. As soon as Alma fell asleep for his 15-minute nap, Emiko eyed Klaud.

"Is there something you want to say, sweetie?" Klaud broke the silence.

"No." Emiko smiled before looking out the window at the land zooming past.

"There seems to be something on your mind."

Emiko stay silent, merely shaking her head while Klaud let the conversation die. There was something on Emiko's mind, though she was too embarrassed to say it. She felt as if she were a little girl looking up to someone famous. The feeling of jealousy and admiration battled each other inside her, though Klaud showed no sign of cockiness toward either of the exorcists.

"You might want to wake him up." Klaud broke Emiko's train of thought.

"Okay." She nodded while nudging her partner, who jolted awake as soon as Emiko touched him.

"Looks like it's your turn." Klaud nodded to Emiko who then leaned against the corner of their booth, falling asleep quickly. "She doesn't seem to be fond of me…"

"Emiko?" Alma spoke just above a whisper. "I'm sure she's just being shy."

"She's talented for being a newcomer. I'm surprised she took that Akuma down so quickly."

"You and me both." Alma chuckled. "I don't know what came over her, but you're right, she is talented. Usually just more timid in battle."

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The train ride went quickly, and by sunset the trio was back at headquarters. Emiko went straight to her room while Alma stayed with Klaud as everyone greeted her homecoming. Within an hour, she had been taken to her room for the night. Peeking out of her room, Emiko noticed the room next to her was now occupied, assuming that's where Klaud had been. Sliding out of her room, she crept over to Klaud's door, quietly turning the door handle to open it slightly, peering in. To her surprise, Klaud was kneeling on her bed, facing the window with her head bowed and hands together. Narrowing her eyes, Emiko inched toward the cracked doorway, hearing Klaud mumbling a prayer for fallen comrades. With a gasp in surprise, she rushed back to her room.

The next morning came early, hearing Komui's muffled voice outside her room with Klaud.

"We're waiting on one more general to make their appearance, and then we can go over all the facts as a group." Komui discussed, ignoring Emiko as she opened her door to see what the muffled voices were about. Shrugging, she disappeared back into her room to ready herself for the day.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: A Meeting with the Past**

Saya leaned back in the pillowed seat of the train car she was in and sighed. This was her second train ride ever in her entire life and she still wasn't sure if she enjoyed it or not. Yu sat across from her staring out the same window she was looking at though he seemed to only be staring out it because there really was nothing else to look at while she was trying to enjoy some of the scenery that rushed by. She rolled her neck and shoulders before she finally turned her attention back to Yu.

"Tell me again what we're doing…? Please?" She asked as she stared at him.

Yu sighed as he turned away and looked Saya in the eyes before he answered. "We're finding one of the five generals to request that he returns to the headquarters due to some alarming information that Komui has."

"I didn't know there were any generals in the Black Order…" Saya mulled as she brushed the hair from her eyes again. "Is the one we're going after the general you served under?"

"No…" Yu said as he turned to look out the window. "The General I was under has already been brought back to the headquarters."

"So, what's the name of the person we're finding?" Saya questioned as she pulled her legs up onto the seat and rested her cheek on her knees while she continued to stare at Yu.

Yu turned his attention back to Saya and narrowed his eyes at her. "Kevin Yeegar. He's the oldest general. Is there something on my face that interests you?"

"Mmmm…" Saya thought as she lifted her cheek off her knees and rested her chin on them instead. "Nothing **on** your face…"

"Then why are you staring at me?"

"I can't just look at you?" Saya asked as she faked being hurt.

"No, you cannot because whenever you do I have this urge to do something to you." Yu answered through gritted teeth as he turned away from Saya's unwavering attention.

That perked Saya's interest. She let her legs down and put her hands on either side of them while leaning forward. "Do what…?"

Yu stiffened as she moved and glared at her from the side. "It doesn't matter."

Saya pouted before she got up and moved to sit next to Yu. "Do I really bother you that much?"

Yu ground his teeth together as he tried to ignore Saya's presence next to him. It wasn't easy, she was leaning slightly forward to try and get a good look at his face but at a particularly sharp turn she let out a little yelp as she slid into him before teetering off the seat. Yu grabbed her without thinking to keep her from falling. She blushed, her cheek against his chest as she tried not to move too much but he just sighed and leaned back against the seat, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

"I don't know what to do with you…" He muttered as he closed his eyes.

Saya just sat there quietly, resting against his lean frame with her head on his chest. She didn't want to do or say anything because she didn't want to move away from the position that she was now in. She liked Yu and from what she had ascertained he liked her too but there were times where she wasn't so sure. What seemed to bother him the most was when she decided to be a loud mouth. She talked a lot when she was nervous or the silence seemed to be too weighty or uncomfortable and that appeared to bother Yu a lot. Finally, it appeared that Yu wasn't going to make her move so she settled in against him, tucking her legs against her on the seat and gently resting her hand on his chest. He opened his eyes for a moment and gazed down at her which caused her to turn her attention up to him.

"Ah…" She started as she blushed. "I can move…"

"It's fine." Yu answered as he closed his eyes again and rested his arm on Saya more comfortably.

Saya smiled and closed her eyes to listen to the sound of his heart beating against her cheek. She listened to his breathing as it slowed to deep calm breaths; it appeared he had fallen asleep. After a long moment of just resting against him she sat up carefully in hopes to not wake him and stared at his face as she thought about something.

"Are you really going to do this again…?" Yu asked without opening his eyes.

Saya blinked. "I thought you were asleep."

"Do you think I can honestly sleep around you?"

Saya pouted though he couldn't see it. "You sleep just fine at the Inns."

"You're not awake to harass me at the Inns."

"So, you think I'm harassing you?"

"You're staring at me, aren't you?"

"I was thinking about something." She answered in defense.

"And what could you possibly be thinking about that requires you to stare at me?"

Saya pursed her lips as she thought about how to answer his question and decided it would be better to get forgiveness instead of permission. So she leaned over him carefully, putting one hand on the other side of his legs and before he had a chance to do or say anything she pressed her lips against his softly.

At first, he was stunned and didn't react but it only took him a moment to recover and grab Saya's arms to move her away. "What do you think you're doing?" He sounded angry.

"I-I… well…" She stammered as she sat back on her legs and looked down at her lap. "I'm sorry…" She stood and began to move to the other seat.

"Tch…" Yu growled before he reached over and grabbed Saya's arm, pulling her back onto the seat beside him where he looked at her, her eyes a little wide with shock and a bit of confusion. He gripped her chin lightly and tilts her head back before he leaned down and kissed her. When he pulled back he smirked at the surprised looked on her face. "That's what you wanted right?"

Saya blushed and for the life of her couldn't think of what to say. "Uh… Y-yes…" She stumbled as she tried to grasp at what had just happened. "I didn't think you would want to kiss me though…"

He made a noise before he let her go and leaned back against the seat. "Just go to sleep so I don't have to deal with your constant staring."

Saya pouted. "I wasn't staring I was contemplating."

"Whatever you say…" He smirked and closed his eyes, his arm resting on the back of the seat. It wasn't how he normally rested and it took Saya a moment to realize it was an invitation for her. She smiled and moved in against him, resting her head on his chest while he moved his arm to rest against her side. Even if this was just while they were on the train she was going to be sure that she used every minute of it.

It didn't feel like it had been very long after Saya had fallen asleep when the train made noises of coming to a stop. The conductor walked through the car's telling the passengers what stop they were at, the stop that Yu and Saya were looking for. They stood at the doors and when they opened a blast of chilled air hit Saya full force causing her to huddle into her coat.

"Cold…?" Yu asked as he watched her out of the corner of his eye.

"No." Saya answered as she straightened up. "Just caught me by surprise."

"If you can't handle it you should stay at the Inn. I don't need you slowing me down."

Saya made a face as she walked along the platform. "If anyone is slowing someone down it'll be you slowing me down."

Yu made a noise in disagreement but didn't try to continue the argument since it wouldn't get either of them anywhere. He led the way through the town, heading to the Inn that the Black Order had made a reservation for them at. It was almost a disappointment for Saya when she heard they had separate rooms but she kept her mouth shut and followed Yu up the stairs and into one of the rooms.

"So, what do we do now? Should we go out and start looking?" Saya asked as she walked over to the small window that looked out at the town.

"Yes, we should start looking so we can return quickly." Yu answered as he watched Saya gazing out the window. "Whatever information Komui has is the top priority and we should find Yeegar as soon as possible so as to return to the headquarters quicker."

Saya was nodding in agreement when something caught her attention. She paled visibly as she threw open the window and leaned out. "That's not possible…"

"What's not?" Yu asked as he tensed for whatever Saya was about to do.

Saya opened her mouth to answer but instead let out a startled sound. "It's him I know it's him but that just can't be possible!"

"Who is it? Why can't it be possible? Saya!" Yu shouted as the girl leapt out the window without warning. She used the awning over the first-floor window to roll and land on her feet before she took off after the unknown man.

Yu growled debated whether or not he was going to follow her but their mission took precedent; Saya could take care of herself and if she wanted to go running after someone for unknown reasons he wasn't going to chase her down. He left the window open but closed the blinds and walked out of the room, intent of finding out where Kevin Yeegar was last seen.

"Wait!" Saya cried as she followed the man she had seen from the window. He was a smaller man, about her height, with white hair and a bandana around his head. With his back to her Saya couldn't see his eyes but if she was right they would be a milk chocolate color. The hair had thrown her off but she was certain; this was a boy from her village.

It shouldn't have been possible; no one else had survived the attack on her village except her and Emiko, yet she couldn't deny the fact that the person she was chasing was a boy from her village. He almost seemed to be running from her, leading her somewhere and she couldn't help but follow; it even felt the same but it had been her who had been running away, not him.

 _"Stop it Wata!" Saya cried as she ran around the small village square where many of the villagers would gather for celebrations or set up stalls when wealthier people would come to look for animals or produce. "I don't want to play with you!"_

 _"Why not?" The boy called Wata called as he chased after Saya. "We're supposed to play together because our parents said so."_

 _"But I don't want to!" Saya answered as she dodged around a house and slid under the floorboards._

 _"Come on Saya!" Wata called when he rounded the corner and couldn't find her. "It's not like I have cooties."_

 _Saya covered her mouth as she watched Wata look around for her before finally giving up. The sun was setting and it was almost time for everyone to be indoors for the evening. Finally, he turned around and walked away, leaving Saya alone in the growing dusk. She waited awhile longer before she crawled out from under the house and brushed the dirt off her pants and hakama the best she could. She shook out her short hair and then huffed with satisfaction, she was as clean as she was going to get. She trekked back to her own home on the far side of the village by the rest of the poor farming families._

 _"Saya!" Her mother snapped as she watched her daughter saddle up to the house with a cheeky grin. "If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times, you are not supposed to go romping through the dirt. We're trying to make you look respectable for Watanuki's family."_

 _"I don't understand why…" Saya whined as she wandered into the house, kicking off her ratty shoes at the door before walking over to the fire and sitting down; her stomach growled._

 _"I've told you why Saya, we need this arrangement." Saya's mother sat down and scooped some stew from the pot over the fire. "You are to marry Watanuki so that we can move up in this village. They are willing to give us money so we can buy more seed for our land for you to marry their son."_

 _"I don't know why you can't just buy seed from the town up the road. Why do I have to marry Watanuki for that?" Saya grabbed the bowl and gobbled down the food quickly._

 _"It's not just the seed Saya." Her mother sighed; they had had this argument many times before. "There are other things we would get out of this marriage and you don't have any say in it anyway. We need what they're willing to give to us, for a price. Now that your sister has passed on we need this more than anything. You will do as you're told, do I make myself clear?"_

 _Saya grumbled but she wouldn't say anymore, she knew she didn't have any say in what her family decided for her, she was just a girl. So she ate her food and unrolled her sleeping pad as she undressed and got under the covers. She waited for her parents to fall asleep and then carefully she unfolded herself from the covers and dressed quietly before sneaking out of the house. She ran through her little village in silence, sticking to the shadowed areas even though she knew how to sneak around without catching any attention._

 _"Emi!" She hissed as she slipped up the small tree outside of her destination; a window in the side of one of the more respectable houses in the village. "Are you awake?"_

 _In response to the girl outside the window slid open and illuminated by the sliver of moon was Emiko. They smiled and Saya slid inside the house, careful to only step where the dirt from her feet could be brushed away._

 _"I heard you having a fight with Watanuki in the village." Emiko said as she sat down on her bedroll._

 _"Yeah… he wanted to play and I told him no."_

 _"Why not…? He seems so nice." Emiko asked, confused. "I'd play with him…"_

 _"Yeah but I'm not allowed to play with my other friends anymore because I have to play with him. I can't go running around in the woods or the dirt over on the south side of the village because I'm supposed to play with him…"_

 _"That doesn't sound so bad, you won't get so dirty anymore."_

 _"I like getting dirty. How else are you supposed to do anything around here?"_

 _"I don't get dirty…"_

 _"Yeah but your parents are silly and you have to stay inside the house." Saya answered as she yawned widely. "I wish you could come outside and play, it would be some much more fun with you there."_

 _Emiko nodded as she yawned as well. "I would like to go outside sometime, but I think for now I'm going to bed."_

 _"Okay," Saya agreed as she got up and went to the window. "Maybe next time we can meet outside and I'll show you my favorite spot in the forest."_

 _Emiko pursed her lips, not sure if she really wanted to go to the woods but nodded anyway._

 _"Good night Saya."_

 _"Good night Emi."_

 _The next morning found Saya standing in a foreign house wearing a brand-new kimono that her mother had sown. She had also been washed and scrubbed beyond recognition; she couldn't remember the last time she was this clean. She sat quietly on a pillow in a separate room while she listened to her parents discussing with Watanuki's parents the deal of the arranged marriage. She couldn't hear the exact words but it didn't really matter to her, she didn't have a say in the matter anyway. So she sat quietly on her pillow while Watanuki sat on the other side of the room staring at her._

 _"Why are you so glum?" He asked after a long silence._

 _"Because I would rather be out running around with my friends instead of in here doing nothing." Saya answered._

 _"It's not that bad in doors, at least you don't have to work in the field."_

 _"I'm not old enough to work in the field my father says." Saya, who was nine, was only four years younger than Watanuki but from how they talked they appeared to be lifetimes apart. "I don't even know why we have to do this."_

 _"Because your parents want what my parents have and my parents would like something in return."_

 _"It's just silly." Saya muttered as she looked down at her hands. Silence fell over them again as they waited to find out what was going to happen. After what seemed like hours her parents opened the partition to the other room with big smiles; it appeared that the arrangement met with a good outcome._

 _"We shall tell the rest of the villagers to start preparing for a celebration." Saya's mother said as she walked through the partition. "Saya tell Watanuki that you will see him again at the festival and thank you."_

 _Saya sighed as she stood up and bowed to Watanuki. "I will see you at the festival when it's ready and thank you for having me over at your home."_

 _Saya's mother smiled as she led Saya out while her father was shaking hands with Watanuki's father. "This will benefit both our families, I promise." He was saying as he was leaving._

 _Saya felt as her life had just ended as she realized that she would be marrying Watanuki in at most a week, depending on how long it took to get things ready. She was going to hate every minute of the next week since she was no longer allowed to run around in pants and get dirty with her other friends. Now she was to wear kimonos and be measured for her wedding garments while staying as clean as possible._

 _By midday the word about the wedding had spread like wildfire. Everyone in the village did what they could to prepare for the big celebration. The little village was bustling with activity while Saya sat at her house staring out a window. A knock came from the door, a well-wisher probably; they had been coming in droves. She went to the door and slid it open only to be surprised by the person on the other side; it was Emiko._

 _"Em, what are you doing here?" Saya asked as she stepped aside to let the girl in. "I thought you weren't allowed to leave the house."_

 _"I'm not." Emiko huffed, she was both out of breath and completely flustered. "But my parents were talking about some wedding festival preparations and when I heard your name and Watanuki's I had to come talk to you."_

 _Saya blinked and opened her mouth to respond but Emiko cut her off._

 _"I can't believe you're getting married to him! It's not fair!_ _ **I've**_ _always liked him! I like him more than you,_ _ **you**_ _want nothing to do with him and yet you're the one getting married to him. Why can't I be the one getting married to him? This is completely unfair you're supposed to be my friend!"_

 _"I don't have a choice…" Saya answered quietly. She was surprised by Emiko's wild outburst, she had never raised her voice before or said anything negative to her; it was shocking in both good and bad ways._

 _"You shouldn't be allowed to marry him then!"_

 _"I don't want to!" Saya shouted and was about to say more but a high-pitched shriek came from the village. She ran to the door and wrenched it open just in time to see a man, who had been running across the field towards them, be beheaded; it had been her father._

 _Both girls stood there in totally surprised from the scene before them. They had no idea what was going on but suddenly their village was under attack. They stood for a moment longer before Saya shook herself and grabbed Emiko's hand._

 _"Come on!" She cried as she dragged the girl from the house. "We need to get to a safe place!" She led Emiko through the village, using the shrubs and the sides of houses to hide when one of the attackers, a monstrous looking creature, came within view of them. Finally, they made it to a small-dilapidated shack where Saya rounded the house and stopped at the back of it._

 _"Get in." She hissed quietly as she pulled back a weed-covered door that led to a cellar. "Don't argue, just get in."_

 _Emiko stared at Saya wide-eyed as she tried to decide if she really wanted to get into the hole in the ground but after a moment she slid inside as silently as she could. Saya turned to follow her but caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see Watanuki just walking through the village, a look of pure evil on his face. She was confused, even scare of the look on his face but before she had any time to react one of the monsters passed in front of her view of the boy and he disappeared. So she slid into the safety of the cellar and closed the door behind her._

"Watanuki!" Saya cried as she left the confines of the town. "I know it's you Watanuki!" Sliding around the corner she came to a halt before she could slam into the back of Yu.

"Yu?" She questioned only a little confused. "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask the same to you." Yu snapped as he turned his attention to Saya. "I'm doing our mission, what are you doing."

"I… uh…" She stopped and bit her lip. "I thought I had seen someone from my village… I'm sorry…. I just had thought that… well… I thought everyone was dead and then I saw that guy…"

"What guy?"

"The guy that just came around the corner. You didn't see him? I was following him until I almost ran into you. I thought you might have seen him."

"The only thing I've seen is that…" Yu pointed in front of him.

Saya walked around him to see what it was that he was pointing at and stopped. Her eyes widened as she covered her mouth in horror, there before the two exorcists was the body of a man who had been mutilated and crucified upside down. Tears filled her eyes, how could someone do something so horrible to another person? She felt sick at the sight of the bloodied corpse and wasn't prepared for the attack that came next.

Three Akumas rounded the corner while the two were staring at the body of the man they had been searching for. They cackled at the look of horror of Saya's face.

"Exorcists!" One shrieked as they readied to attack. "You'll die just like your friend!"

Saya wasn't ready for the attack, hadn't seen it coming even when the Akumas had announced themselves so the explosion from one of the attacks rocked her hard, flinging her into the air and back several feet where she slammed into a boulder just on the other side of the corpse. She gasped from the shock, coughing as she tried to clear her lungs awhile blood slid down the corner of her mouth. She slumped to the ground and closed her eyes.

"Get up!" Yu snapped as he pulled Mugen out of its sheath. "Get up and fight or just lay there and die without doing anything."

Saya stood slowly as she tried to clear the fog that covered her brain from the attack. Her ears were ringing from the explosion and her legs felt weak but she was determined. Anger boiled through her as rage cleared her mind; they would die for what they had done to Kevin Yeegar. In seconds, she pulled her bow from its place under her coat, activated it and released a volley of arrows into the Akuma.

"You will pay for what you've done!" She cried as she pulled the string of her bow back. "Explosive arrows!"

The arrows struck one of the Akuma, exploding on impact but not doing enough damage, it seemed to be heavily armored. Yu attacked then, aiming for the same spot that she had hit with her arrows but it wasn't enough. The Akuma attacked and all Yu and Saya could do was brace for the impact. The explosion hit Saya the hardest, she hadn't wanted to move to minimize the damage she would take, part of her had wanted to keep any more harm from Yeegar's body.

"Saya you idiot!" Yu snapped as the smoke cleared. "If you want to die then do it on your own time."

"I can't let them hurt him anymore!" Saya answered as she tried to get to her feet again from the attack.

"He's already dead!"

"No one deserves what they've done to him!" Saya cried as she felt tears sliding down her cheeks. "This is just too cruel."

Someone laughed. "You're so pathetic Saya…"

Saya's eyes widened as she turned her attention to where the voice was coming from. There standing next to the Akuma was the man she had been chasing earlier.

"Watanuki…?" Saya questioned as she stared in disbelief. The man's hair was white, his eyes were yellow and his skin was gray but even with those differences she knew she was right; he was Watanuki. "What… What's going on? I thought you were dead! I thought everyone was dead…"

Watanuki sneered. "I haven't heard that name in a very long time. But you're right, Watanuki is dead, my name is Waizurii now. It's been so long, I'm surprised to see you're wearing a kimono and you've let your hair grow out. You actually look like a girl now."

Saya gritted her teeth. "What's going on? Why are you with those Akuma Watanuki? How did you survive the attack on our village? Did anyone else survive?"

"So many questions, you never did know when to stop talking. I'm surprised myself to see someone survived the attack. I was certain everyone had died like they were supposed to. Tell me, did anyone else survive?"

"I don't understand… Why do you look so different? Why are you standing there with those monsters? How come they aren't attacking you?"

"He's a Noah…" Yu spoke up finally as he glared that the man before him. "I hadn't heard of any in this war before now but it's obvious what you are. You're a Noah, someone who controls the Akuma."

"Controls…?" Saya asked confused as she looked back and forth between Yu and Watanuki. "I don't get it… What's a Noah? Why is Watanuki one of them? He's just a human!"

Watanuki laughed and shook his head. "Oh Saya, just as dense as ever. Noah's are humans with the memories of the true descendants of Noah. The Akuma are our weapons, they can't hurt us and we can control them."

Saya's eyes widened as she stared in disbelief. "So the attack on the village…"

"It was all me." Watanuki smirked. "Does that surprise you my dear wife?"

Yu looked over at Saya with slight confusion and anger but Saya's eyes were all for Watanuki as she glared at him.

"I was never your wife." She hissed between her teeth. "You attacked our village… slaughtered all those innocent lives and for what? What did you gain from all that?"

"The destruction of humanity of course. All humans deserve to die just like that man behind you." The look on Saya's face amused him and he laughed. "Does it really surprise you to find out that was also me? You really are so naïve."

Saya howled with rage. "How dare you do something like that to a human? I will see you dead!" She charged him, rage fueling her movements where her body wanted to collapse from the earlier explosions, but she wasn't fast enough.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Watanuki said as he moved forward and slammed his fist into her gut, sending her flying back where she hit the ground, bounced, and then skidded to a halt. "You were always doing things without thinking. Maybe it would have been easier for you to die when the rest of the village did." He turned and walked back to the Akuma

"Watanuki!" Saya cried as she pushed herself to a sitting position. "I swear on the lives of those who have died by your hand I will see you dead!" She pulled her bow back and let the power build. She had never done this before but now she poured every ounce of pain, regret and anger into the one arrow that was forming on her string. Just as she felt herself losing control of all that power she released it, sending it flying straight at Watanuki.

A moment of panic flashed across Watanuki's face but it didn't last long as he moved one of the Akuma in the way of the arrow. It sunk into the Akuma's body where it exploded. The shockwave obliterated anything standing and the light blinded all those in the area. When they could finally see Saya and Yu were the only things still alive in the area but she knew that it wasn't enough; Watanuki had survived.

Saya laid where she was, everything in her body hurt and she didn't think she would be able to get up on her own. Tears stung her eyes as they slowly worked their way out of her closed eyelids and after a few moments she just didn't care anymore. A sound caught her attention but she didn't open her eyes, she was too tired to care.

"He's your husband… You're married to a Noah…" It was Yu's voice and it had taken on a cold, biting edge.

"We were never married…" Saya answered slowly. "It was an arranged marriage. I was nine and he was thirteen. Our parents arranged the marriage the same day the village was attacked… I had been arguing with Emiko at my house about it when it happened… I can't believe it was all him… He murdered our entire village as if they never even mattered… Then he brutalizes the General because it's fun and I failed to kill him… I'm a failure…"

Yu stood there for a long moment before he just sighed. "When you're done wallowing in self-pity I'll be back at the Inn contacting Headquarters about this mess."

"I don't think I can get up…" Saya answered. "I'm sorry Y… Kanda… I didn't think there was anyone else from the village… I didn't think I needed to tell you everything about what happened before that day… I didn't think it mattered…"

Yu stiffened; he knew she only used his last name anymore when they were around others so to hear it now meant she had felt like she didn't deserve to use his first name. He wondered for a moment whether he was happy the emotions they had for each other had just been crushed by the news of her former betrothal or whether he should be concerned. At this moment he didn't care either way but he sat down next to her anyway.

"I'm sorry Kanda…" She murmured as fresh tears slid down her cheeks. "I don't know if you can forgive me… but I'm sorry…"

"Just shut up and rest so you can get up and start moving. As soon as you're up we're contacting the headquarters and heading back" Yu answered as he sat there and waited.


	11. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10: Japan**_

A light knock echoed through Emiko's small room, though it fell on deaf ears. Emiko resided behind the closed door of her bathroom, soaking in a warm bath. With a long exhale, she sunk deep in the tub, letting her hair soak before resurfacing and running her fingers through her long black locks.

"Emiko…?" Alma called out as he pushed the door to her bedroom open.

"Oh…" Her attention was peaked at the sound of his voice. "I'm in the tub."

"Okay, I'll wait in your room…" With a nod, he found a nice spot in a chair near her bed.

Quickly she reached for a towel hung over the railing before drying off, getting dressed. The day was half over, and this was the first she had seen Alma since their return from their mission. With a sigh, an impulsive urge came over her to confess each and every feeling she felt at that very moment, including the ones for him. The feeling of loss due to being separated from Saya, the jealousy and admiration for this general, and the longing to be close to Alma.

As soon as she straightened her skirt and buttoned up shirt, she pulled the door open to meet Alma who sat in the chair in the corner of her room, one leg bent over the other knee.

"Emiko…" He stood to greet her. "I haven't seen you since last night."

"Yes…" Emiko nodded while emerging from her bathroom. "I've just been spending time in here."

"Is something wrong?"

"No. Nothing's wrong." She smiled briefly.

"Well then what's on your mind? I know that look on your face…" He sat back down, waiting for a response as she made her way to the corner of her bed.

"Nothing." She sat properly, with one knee bent over the other. "I've just been spending time alone."

"That just doesn't seem like the Emiko I know…" He frowned with concern, leaning his elbows on his knees to move a little closer to her. "Is it General Klaud?"

"Why would you think that…?" She blushed in spite of herself.

"It is!" He smiled with a chuckle for a moment, pleased that he figured it out though his celebration didn't last when he realized she could be conflicting over something. "Why are you upset with Klaud?"

"I'm not upset with her." Emiko could feel her cheeks burning a little more. "She's perfect."

"You don't seem to like her."

"That's not it." Emiko took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "I don't know how I feel about her, to be honest. Part of me thought she'd be able to handle that Akuma I took down so easily, but another part admires her. A woman general… She must be really great."

"I've heard stories and read some stuff. I guess she has an Anti-Akuma pet that fights with her or something."

"That must be fun." Emiko gave a half smile with a chuckle.

"You should go talk to her, get to know her." Alma smiled, pushing himself off the chair.

"No… I don't want to come off as a weirdo." Emiko laughed lightly. "I'll just get over it."

"You still seem to have something on your mind."

"I also miss Saya." Emiko spoke honestly. "We've never been away from each other for such a long period of time."

"Well…" Alma sat down beside her on the bed. "If you ever need to talk or something, or if you want company, you know you can always come find me, right?"

"Thanks…" She smiled, turning away to hide her bright pink cheeks. "I'll keep that in mind, Alma."

As if another being had controlled him, Alma wrapped his arms tightly around Emiko, his heart racing as he realized what he was doing, though leaned against her shoulder as he felt her leaning against him.

"There's also something else on my mind…" Emiko said just above a whisper.

"…About…?"

"You…" She sighed, pulling away from him. "I'm not sure how to say this…"

Alma feared the worst, though before Emiko could say another word, Alma leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers as a last-ditch effort to avoid hearing a painful truth. Emiko's eyes widened, though she smiled softly to herself, realizing Alma's feelings were one in the same.

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Saya sighed as she walked through the halls behind Yu. Her hands were clenched in fists but other than that there was no outward sign of the roiling emotions she was going through. She was still in pain, her body still trying to heal from the damage she had taken during the fight with the Noah and the Akuma, but more than that she was angry. The knowledge that someone from her village, someone she knew and was even engaged to, had been the root cause of the entire slaughter and had enjoyed it. Even the feelings of hurt and confusion and Yu didn't compare to the raging anger within her. When she had finally been able to stand after the fight she had told Yu that he could return without her to the headquarters and she was going after the Noah. She could hardly stand and blood oozed from open wounds all over her body but she was beyond angry and all that rage fueled her continued movement where her body was failing. One of the Finders hadn't been able to handle how much damage she was in and had knocked her unconscious so they could bring her back.

Yu hadn't spoken a word to her since the incident but for now that didn't bother her. Right now, all she could think about was convincing Komui to send her on a mission alone to hunt down the Noah named Waizurii. She went over and over the conversation in her head, searching for all the arguments he would have against it and all the comebacks she could have prepared for when the resistance arrived; she wasn't taking no for an answer. Even the information that had the entirety of the Black Order in an uproar wasn't as important to her as hunting down the Noah that had murdered not only a General but also her entire village; this was personal. So, she walked straight to Komui's office, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, not paying attention to her surroundings. Her vision narrowed on following Yu to the Branch Chief's office and walking without falling plus the hope that Komui would grant her the missions she wanted. With her concentration so limited she completely missed walking by Emiko; she didn't even hear her voice when she called her name.

Yu stopped and it took every ounce of energy Saya had not to slam into him of fall over. Her hands clenched tighter, her nails digging into her palms almost to the point of drawing blood as she tried to control the wave of pain that hit her. She looked up and saw they had come all the way to Komui's office without a word; she hadn't been paying attention. Yu went in first, leading the way and making room for himself within the mess then Saya followed suit. Emiko hid to the side of the door, her concern for her friend growing because of the how silent and unresponsive she appeared to be.

"So, I hear the mission didn't go so well…" Komui stated after a long moment of silence. "From the report, he was already dead when you got there?"

"Yes." Yu answered without further embellishment.

"And you ran into some Akuma… and a Noah…?"

"Yes."

"So, then it seems the information we had received was true. The Noah are back…"

"What is the next step?"

"Well we—"

Saya cut him off. "I would like to request a solo mission Branch Chief."

"And what would that be…?" Komui looked Saya over carefully and she was sure he hadn't missed the amount of injuries she still had; in fact, she was certain it even stated how badly she had been injured in the mission report.

"I would like to go after the Noah that killed General Yeegar."

Komui looked at her as he sat back in his chair. "From the report, I read he was also the one that attacked your village is that right…?"

"…Yes…"

"And you have some connection with this particular Noah…?"

Saya gritted her teeth. "Yes…"

"And what connection would that be?"

"Before the "Noah memories" were awakened inside him he was a boy from my village. He went by the name Watanuki."

Komui stared at Saya a long time while outside the office Emiko covered her mouth with her hands to keep from making a sound. Eyes wide she forced herself to stay and listen to the rest of the report.

"Are you certain this Noah and that boy are in fact the same person?" Komui asked as he studied Saya.

"Yes… I'm certain. I would know the boy I had been in an arranged marriage with even after all these years."

"So, this is a biased situation. Do you think you could go through with the mission and kill him if you happened to find him?"

Saya's hands clenched tighter as the rage washed through her again from the memory of her ruined village and the mutilated corpse of General Kevin Yeegar. "Yes…" She murmured just loud enough for the three people listening to her to hear it. "I will kill him with my bare hands if I must… I will see the Noah called Waizuri dead for the crimes he has committed."

Tears filled Emiko's eyes as she fled from Komui's office. Komui glanced at his door but didn't say anything about the person who had been hiding; he knew who it was. Instead he shuffled his papers and put down the mission report to lean forward on his desk and stare at Saya for a long silent moment.

"I'm sorry." He said finally as he leaned back into his chair. "I cannot let you go on this solo mission. For now, I need you to go to the infirmary and get checked up. You are going to be needed for this upcoming mission. In fact, most of the exorcists will be needed for it. You're dismissed."

Saya bit her lip as she tried to quell the anger she felt and turned to leave the office. Komui's voice stopped her just short of the door.

"Saya, just so you know. I'm sure the Noah you are looking for will be in the location of the new mission. You and the others will be briefed about it just as soon as I have spoken to the Generals." Komui said as he wasted the girl.

Saya nodded and left the office. Heading to the infirmary as instructed; she didn't even look back at Yu as she left. There didn't appear to be any way of salvaging what they almost had.

Once again, Saya passed by her longtime friend without a second glance. Her mind had fallen back to its previous thoughts of the pain and anger she felt toward that Noah. Emiko sighed while giving a shrug, walking in the opposite direction, toward Alma's room. Upon arrival, she knocked a few times to get no answer. With furrowed brows, she huffed softly before her attention was grabbed by a familiar voice behind her.

"Ah, Saya." Alma spoke while coming up the stairs, his back now facing Emiko giving her the perfect chance to eavesdrop once more. "I've been looking all over for you."

"What's up?" Saya stopped on her way to her room, a little taken off guard that Alma had been looking for her.

"I wanted to see how your mission went… It'd be easier talking to you about it than Yu, I figured." He chuckled, putting his hands on his hips while shifting his weight.

"It was…disappointing." Saya looked away, trying to tell him just enough to keep him at bay without sharing her pain with him. Despite her heart wrenching and blood boiling, she managed to keep a straight face. "Unfortunately, General Yeager didn't survive to see us."

"Oh… That's horrible." He offered a concerned look, though Saya denied it, playing the role of uncaring as she looked over past him, noticing Emiko standing there.

"Excuse me." Saya nodded a goodbye to Alma as she walked passed him to greet her friend. Alma nodded, taking his leave. Emiko narrowed her eyes as Saya approached, the shorter girl putting her hands on her own hips.

"What was that all about?" Emiko raised her brows, a little sass in her voice.

"What was what all about?" Saya curled a lip in confusion.

"Are you trying to steal another guy from me too?"

"…What are you talking about?" Saya smirked in spite of herself.

"First Watanuki, and now Alma." She accused, her anger rising as Saya continued to chuckle. "What is so funny?"

"Emiko…" Saya shook her head, the first carefree moment since her time with Waizurii. "You're so cute."

"How dare you just laugh in my face?" Emiko began to blush, feeling silly as if Saya had been speaking a different language.

"I'm not trying to 'steal Alma.' I'm not even interested in Alma that way, duh." Saya thumped Emiko's forehead, Emiko swatting her hand away. "Anyway, what do you mean another guy?"

"Don't play dumb, Saya… I heard you in your meeting." Emiko no longer seemed angry as she watched her friend's facial expression change, her façade fading quickly. "You met Watanuki again?"

"Yes… But it wasn't the Watanuki we knew." Saya turned away from Emiko, to avoid seeing her hurt expression. "He isn't the man you had a crush on years ago, he's a cold-hearted killer."

Emiko fell silent, thinking back to a different time, sighing as she realized it had all been a lie.

"I asked for a solo mission." Saya broke the silence. "Komui denied me."

"We should sneak off and do it anyway." Emiko smirked, seeing Alma and Yu walking up the stairs.

Saya shook her head as she followed her friend. "There's something else more important coming up… So, I will go on this new mission but afterwards I will do what I must to go after Waizurii… I swore I would see him dead by my hands."

Emiko glanced over at her longtime friend and saw the certainty she felt towards killing Waizurii. It bothered her to see such an expression on her usually happy friend but she couldn't blame her. She had been the one to watch the entire massacre while Emiko was able to close her eyes and cover her ears. So, she walked silently with her friend as they made their way to the infirmary. It surprised her for a moment that this was where Saya was heading but upon close inspection she could see the pain her friend was in.

"Was the battle hard…?"

Saya's lips pressed into a thin line as she moved to the door. "I was careless…" She answered but didn't elaborate.

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Saya walked out of the infirmary alone; Emiko had left a while ago to train when she heard just how difficult the Noah were and the possibility of meeting them on the mission. Saya knew that her friend was still bothered deeply by the news of the boy she had been in love with once had returned to their life but she was hiding it. It should have bothered Saya to know her friend was having a hard time with the news but all she could really think about was how she would strangle the life out of him with her bare hands if she really had to. Sighing she leaned against the wall. The nurse had told her to rest but it appeared she wouldn't have time for that; Yu was walking her way.

"Komui wants to speak with all of us." He stated as he turned away from Saya; they were still at odd with each other since meeting Waizurii.

"Alright." Saya murmured as she stood and followed Yu down the hall. The silence was weighty, at least for her, as they walked to Komui's office in the science department. "Is this how we're going to be now…?" She finally asked; she couldn't take it anymore.

"I don't trust you." He answered without elaborating. Apparently, that was all he was going to say on the subject.

Saya sighed and brushed her hair from her face. For a while she had been letting it grow out, she wanted to feel feminine now that she was always around Yu. But since he now didn't want to be anywhere near her, her hair was just in the way. She had even requested Johnny make her something with shorts or pants for her new uniform since her last one had been beyond repair. She was going back to what she felt comfortable in since she no longer wanted to feel like a girl; it made her feel weak anyway.

Finally, they made their way into Komui's office; Saya noticed that Alma and Emiko were already inside. Komui looked up when they finally entered.

"Ah, good you're all here." He said as he shuffled through the mess on his desk. "I have a new mission for all of you. After much deliberation with the High Generals and Generals we have decided that we will be infiltrating Japan."

Saya blinked. "I'm sorry… what?"

"Let me explain." Komui began as he looked at the group. "We received information for Allen Walker's group that Japan has become the base for the Millennium Earl, the Noah and his Akuma. It has been completely overrun without any trace to any human beings. With the congregation of the Earl and his followers we have assumed that the Ark is also there. The Ark could possibly become the key pivotal point in this entire war and on the Ark, should be the Eggs for the Akuma. After much deliberation, we have all decided it would be best to send teams of four into Japan and try to retrieve the Ark and this Egg for ourselves. It is vital that we obtain both the Ark and the Egg. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Alma, Emiko and Saya answered; Yu grunted.

"So, for now we will be sending all of you over into Japan to try and secure the keys to this war." Komui made a movement with his hand indicating they were to leave and prepare. "And Saya," the girl in question stopped. "If you don't find this Waizurii in Japan and complete your wish to remove him we can discuss sending you after him alone when you return. Rest as much as you can while you head to Japan, we will need you at full strength for this mission."

"Understood…" Saya answered as she left the room.

Emiko sighed, finding the pain in her friend's eyes troubling. It had been years since she thought of the man now known as Waizurii; she thought her first real crush had died in the village massacre. Emiko wanted to make it up to her friend, in any way possible, even if it meant getting her own hands dirty.

Making a beeline for the training room, she walked with a new determination, focused on purely getting stronger. Jogging down the stairs, she quickly made it to the large double doors leading to the vast training room. As she pushed her way through the doors, the first face she noticed was Saya's, who stopped her hand combat with one of the wooden dummies.

"What are you doing here?" Saya asked with a confused expression.

"I'm here to train, silly." Emiko chuckled, slugging Saya's arm playfully. "…Ow… Are you wearing extra padding on your arms?"

Saya laughed loudly as she watched her small friend shake the pain from her hand, Emiko's cheeks turning pink while Saya tried stifling her own laughter, but to no avail. Just as soon as she'd manage to fake a straight face, she'd bust out with laughter once more.

"You know, it's really not that funny…" Emiko narrowed her eyes at Saya, striking up a chuckle herself.

"Oh, you know it is." Saya softly pushed Emiko's shoulder.

"I came here to train…" Emiko changed the subject, Saya arching a brow as she took notice. "I don't want to hold anyone back."

"Who said yo-" Saya began to ask, though trailed off as she watched Emiko walk over to one of the wooden dummies and take form.

With her knees slightly bent, Emiko readied herself to lunge at the dummy in front of her. All the while, she made up a quick personality for the dummy; that he had been a drunken man chasing her down a long and narrow darkened alley, begging for money and willing to take it by force.

As Emiko shifted her foot behind her, she mentally made herself feel back into a corner. Lunging forward, she clenched her fist, rearing her arm back for the slug of her lifetime. Seeing the opening she was looking for, she pushed her fist forward ever every ounce of her being, slamming in right between the carved eyes.

Almost as soon as her hand made connection with the wood, she felt a sharp pain traveling up her whole arm, as if she had been electrocuted. Freezing in place, she gritted her teeth hoping no one seen her failed attempt at knocking the wood dummy's head off. Slowly lifting her vision, she noticed Yu crossing her path on the opposite side of the room, shaking his head in annoyance at her. Emiko felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment, flinching slightly as Saya laid a hand to her shoulder.

"Maybe you should take it easy…" Saya tried holding back laughter. "Go get your hand checked out and make sure it's not broken."

"But Saya, I'm serious about this." Emiko pleaded with her friend. "I refuse to be the weakest link."

"Where's all this coming from?" Saya suddenly became very serious, disliking the feeling of Emiko hiding something from her. "Is this because Komui said he'd send me on a solo mission?"

"No. I don't want to be babied anymore." Emiko tried to mask the pain in her hand, though it was silly to; Saya knew full well how much pain she was in.

"Okay… Just go to the infirmary and get your hand checked out. I'll show you proper stances and fighting techniques if you're that serious."

Emiko nodded, going to the infirmary for a check-up. She still couldn't shake the embarrassment, and thanked God that Alma didn't see. She had hoped that it wasn't like Yu to call her out about it. Just as Saya advised, Emiko had hurt her hand more than she realized, though thankfully nothing was broken. Wrapping it, she was ordered to go rest, and so she did. Though still early, she quickly fell asleep, dreaming of one specific childhood memory when Saya snuck her out to show her the stars on a full moon, away from any lights from their small village. Saya had called that her "special spot" she'd go to when she wanted to be away from everyone. Her dream ended differently then she remembered. Instead of falling asleep and getting yelled at, Emiko dreamed of the morning's sunrise.

Morning came early, the warm sun waking Emiko. Judging by the sky, she pegged the time to be around 10 am. Biting her lower lip, she figured she had been late for her group mission, though found it odd that no one came to wake her. Catching a quick bath, she rushed down stairs in her uniform, bags already packed from the night before, to find everyone sitting in the cafeteria eating breakfast.

"You're already ready?" Alma raised his brows, still sitting in his pajamas.

"I figured you guys would have wanted to leave by now…" Emiko sat next to him, confused.

"There are trains leaving every hour until 4pm." Saya began, taking a big piece of toast into her mouth and feeling no shame as she talked while chewing. "We can leave when we're finished with breakfast. We're already leaving a day early."

"You should eat." Alma passed Emiko an empty plate while glancing at the plates of food on the table. "You'll need all the rest you can get."

"Are we walking again?"

"You should always be prepared to walk." Alma sneered, eating his meal a few tables over in the nearly empty cafeteria.

Yu's dreary mood seemed to have shut the others up and within an hour all four had left headquarters on a journey to Japan. Making it to the train station by noon, they all shared stories of their previous mission, Saya leaving out most of the detail while Yu grunted in irritation. It felt as if they had just sat down before it was time to get off the train, making another half hour hike to the harbor where the boat they had procured was waiting. Saya looked over the ocean's horizon, smiling as she glanced at her friend. A warm feeling seemed to fall over all of them. Alma took Emiko's hand, holding her close as he led her onto the boat. Even Yu showed a slight brighter side, though barely noticeable to Emiko or Alma. While walking up the ramp, he stepped out of the way to let Saya pass. In shock, Saya smiled warmly at him for only a moment before boarding the boat.


End file.
